FREE ENGLISH TRANSCRIPTION: Dele, Domine, Iniquitatem Meam
Ash Wednesday is upon us, and in the interest of having greater recourse to the official music of the Church (†1), I have transcribed the Ash Wednesday Antiphon, Dele, Domine, Iniquitatem Meam into English according to the Douay-Rheims translation (Psalm 50). This transcription is offered free of charge.
A few notes on this adaptation:
There are multiple ways of adapting Gregorian psalm tones into the vernacular; for this transcription, I decided to set the text such that it felt most natural to sing, rather than being strict in the application of the psalm tone itself. That is to say: I did not count the neumes and then count back X number of syllables at the end of each line and apply the formula rigidly, regardless of textual stress; rather, I applied the general contour of the formula in such a way that it would feel most natural to the average American choir member who has not spent significant time digesting chant.
I will be the first to freely admit that there are pros and cons to this approach, and someone else is welcome to apply the latter approach if a perfect application of the Gregorian formula (to the occasional detriment of the natural textual stresses in English) is more important to them. In my experience, such an approach can feel very awkward to sing, even if it is ‘technically correct’ from a musicological perspective. If the alternate approach is more important to you, then this is not the transcription for you. If, however, you prefer to make things feel as natural as is reasonably possible when adapting to formulæ intended for another language, I pray this will be of good service to you and your parish(es).I used the Douay-Rheims translation (†2) because it is in the public domain and highly regarded for its fidelity and beauty. I am also a big fan of “King James English” for the reason that it is what I call “poor man’s latin”. That is to say: just as with Latin, KJE is a step removed from quotidian (ordinary / daily) speech and has the effect of adding a certain gravitas and quasi-sacrality to corporate prayer that would be otherwise lacking. To our modern ear, it feels set apart, and is essentially only encountered in Sacred use (or perhaps Shakespearian productions). Music for Mass is supposed to be Sacred (literally set aside for holy use) and Latin is, of course, the linguistic paragon for this principle. KJE is the next best thing, when dealing with the English vernacular.
As is always the case, a practice / demo track is available on YouTube, and I’m placing an ad-free mp3 below as well.
Before you go…
Please consider perusing some of our other blog posts, as well as the myriad of psalm arrangements and other scores currently on offer.
Of special interest to you today may be the Lenten 2025 resource list.
Lastly, subscribe to our YouTube Channel to never miss when new practice tracks are released.
†1 – Many are unaware that just as we have official prayers in the altar missal, and official readings in the lectionary, we also have a collection of official music for Mass, namely, the Graduale Romanum. In Her wisdom, Holy Mother Church also proposes the Graduale Simplex (the ‘Simple Graduale’) as an alternative for parishes that are unable to employ the Graduale Romanum for whatever reason. This setting of the antiphon for the distribution of ashes comes directly from the Graduale Simplex, and is therefore a vernacular adaptation of one of the official options for this moment in the liturgy.
†2 – Please note that a very minor edit was made to verse 10 such that the phrase “within my bowels” was changed to “within me” as is commonly heard today. This will avoid any confusion or scandal, particularly with children.
