Eternal Light (Howard Goodall)

Howard Goodall intends his 2008 requiem Eternal Light to give solace to the grieving. Like other modern requiems it includes passages in English; but it also includes a Latin passage not found in traditional requiems. Most of this post translates what is effectively chapter eight of the revelation to St John, originally written in Greek but sung here in a non-standard Latin version. For the standard Latin movements (Kyrie, Agnus Die, In Paradisum), see my post for Gabriel Fauré’s requiem.

2. REVELATION: FACTUM EST SILENTIUM
Factum est silentium in coelo	Made was silence in heaven
et vidi septem illos angelos qui adstant in conspectu dei	and I saw seven of those messengers which stood in the sight of God
quibus datae sunt septem tubae.	and to them given were seven trumpets.
Et septem angeli qui habebant septem tubas	And the seven angels which had seven trumpets
preparaverunt se ut clangerent.	prepared themselves in order to sound.
Primus igitur angelus clanxit	The first therefore angel sounded
et facta est grando et ignis mista sanguine	and made was hail and fire mingled with blood
projectaque sunt in terram	and they thrown were upon the earth
et tertia pars arborum exusta est	and the third part of trees burnt up was
et omne gramen viride exustum.	and all grass green burnt up.
Deinde secundus angelus clanxit	Next the second angel sounded
et quasi mons magnus, igne ardens, projectus est in mare	and a sort-of mountain great, with fire burning, thrown was into the sea
factaque est tertia pars maris sanguis	and made was the third part of the sea blood
et mortua est tertia pars creaturum quae erant in mari animantia, dico	and dead was the third part of the creatures which were in the sea alive, I say
et tertia pars navium periit.	and the third part of the ships perished.
Tum angelus tertius clanxit	Then the third angel sounded
et cecidit e coelo stella magna	and fell from heaven a star great
ardens velut lampas	burning just like a lamp
ceciditque in tertiam partem fluminum,	and it fell upon the third part of the rivers
et in fontes aquarum.	and upon the fountains of waters.
Nomen autem stellae dicitur Absinthium	The name however of the star was called Wormwood
versa est igitur tertia pars aquarum in absinthium	changed was therefore the third part of the waters into wormwood
et multi homines mortiu sunt ex aquis,	and many men died from the waters
quod amarae factae essent.	which bitter made were.
Deinde quartus angelus clanxit	Next the fourth messenger sounded
et percussa est tertia pars solis	and struck was the third part of the sun
et tertia pars lunae et tertia pars stellarum	and the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars
ita ut obscuraretur tertia pars eorum	so that darkened was the third part of them
et diei non luceret pars tertia et noctis similiter.	and the day did not shine for part one-third and the night likewise.
Et vidi et audivi unum angelum	And I saw and I heard one messenger
volantem per medium coeli, dicentem voce magna	flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a voice great
‘Vae, vae, vae incolis terrae a reliquis	‘Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth remaining
sonis tubae trium illorum angelorum qui clangenti.’	from the sounds of the trumpets of the three of those messengers which will sound!’
7. RECORDARE
Recordare Jesu pie,	Remember Jesus merciful
quod sum causa tuae viae,	that I am the reason for your journey
ne me perdas illa die.	do not me forsake on day that.

Est is literally is; but the next line has vidi of veni vidi vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) fame. Latin mixes tenses in a way we find confusing, so I've put all the present tenses into the past and translated est as was.
Et septem. Latin is one of many languages that avoid articles like the or a(n). I've added them where needed to keep the sense in English, so And the seven instead of the literal And seven.
Projectaque sunt. Projecta means thrown when talking about ‘them’, que is just tagged on to mean and, and sunt means were.