Vexilla Regis prodeunt;
fulget Crucis mysterium,
[quo carne carnis conditor
suspensus est patibulo.]1

Confixa clavis viscera
tendens manus, vestigia,
redemptionis gratia
hic immolata est hostia. 

Quo vulneratus insuper
mucrone diro lanceae,
ut nos lavaret crimine,
manavit unda et sanguine. 

[Impleta sunt quae]2 concinit
David fideli carmine,
dicendo nationibus:
regnavit a ligno Deus. 

Arbor decora et fulgida,
ornata Regis purpura,
electa digno stipite
tam sancta membra tangere. 

Beata, cuius brachiis
pretium pependit saeculi:
statera facta corporis,
praedam tulitque tartari. 

Fundis aroma cortice,
vincis sapore nectare,
iucunda fructu fertili
plaudis triumpho nobili.

Salve, ara, salve, victima,
de passionis gloria,
qua vita mortem pertulit
et morte vitam reddidit. 

O Crux ave, spes unica,
hoc Passionis tempore!
piis adauge gratiam,
reisque dele crimina.3

Te, fons salutis Trinitas,
collaudet omnis spiritus:
[quibus crucis victoriam
largiris adde praemium.]4

F. Liszt sets stanzas 1, 4, 9
G. Wert sets stanza 9
G. Dyson sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Liszt: "Qua vita mortem protulit/ Et morte vitam protulit."
² Liszt: "Impleti sunt que"
³ Liszt adds "Amen."
⁴ in some versions, "quos per Crucis mysterium/ salvas, fove per saecula. Amen."

Text Authorship:

• by Venantius Fortunatus, Saint (c530 - c609) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Alonso de Alba , "Vexilla regis" [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Joseph) Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896), "Vexilla regis", WAB. 51 (1892), published 1892 [ chorus a cappella ], Vienna: Josef Weinberger [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paolo Castaldi (b. 1930), "Vexilla regis", published 1982 [ chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Guillaume Dufay (c1400 - 1474), "Vexilla regis" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Einleitung", S. 53 no. 1 (1879), stanzas 1,4,9 [ chorus and organ ], from Via Crucis, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Xavier Montsalvatge (1912 - 2002), "De passione Christi", 1969, copyright © 1972, first performed 1969 [ soprano, flutes, harp, piano, celesta, percussions and double bass ], from Cinco Invocaciones al Crucificado, no. 1, Hamburg : Peermusic classical [sung text not yet checked]
• by Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924), "Vexilla Regis prodeunt" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Giaches de Wert (1535 - 1596), "O Crux ave", published 1581, stanza 9 [ 5 voices ], Il secondo libro de motetti, 5vv [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by George Dyson (1883 - 1964), "O timely happy, timely wise", 1945-9, from Quo Vadis: a Cycle of Poems, no. 5
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (David Wyatt) , "The King's standards advance", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-03-11
Line count: 40
Word count: 132