Hail most beautiful | Hail most beautiful

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Ave formosissima

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG ITA SPA

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BLANZIFOR ET HELENA

Ave formosissima
gemma pretiosa,
ave, decus virginum,
virgo gloriosa,
ave, mundi luminar,
ave, mundi rosa,
Blanziflor et Helena,
Venus generosa!

Blanzifor: heroine of a popular medieval saga.

Text Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300 [author's text not yet checked 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 Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), "Ave formosissima", 1935-6 [ chorus ], from Carmina Burana, no. 24 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Salute bellissima (Coro)", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , "Salve, hermosísima", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2011-04-25
Line count: 9
Word count: 23

Hail most beautiful

Language: English after the Latin

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BLANCHEFLEUR AND HELEN
 
Hail most beautiful 
precious gem,
hail, ornament of virgins,
glorious virgin,
hail, light of the world,
hail, rose of the world,
Blanchefleur and Helen,
noble Venus!

Note for line 7, "Blanchefleur": the heroine of a popular medieval romance, whose name means "white flower."

Text Authorship:

Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-18
Line count: 9
Word count: 29