Brigittine chant – Cantus sororum
Welcome to birgittasang.fi, where we invite you to explore some of the chants from the Brigittine Office, Cantus sororum. This is a sequence of divine services as practised in the 15th century for instance by the nuns at the convent in Naantali in Finland. These timeless chants formed part of the never-ending song of praise at Brigittine convents. Though originally devised for nuns, we invite all people of all genders to enjoy them.
There is a brief background section about Saint Birgitta (sometimes referred to as Saint Bridget of Sweden), the origins of the Cantus sororum, and a description of the Office and the chants.
The selection given here includes all kinds of chants, from brief invitatories to antiphons, responses and stanzaic hymns. The chants are recorded at various pitch levels and on video to make them easier to understand and sing along with. Most of the chants are in Latin, some in Swedish. Sheet music can be printed out from this website.
Learn
Here you can read more about the making of Cantus sororum or Songs of the sisters! Articles of a short history of Saint Birgitta, the background of the Cantus sororum and the Angel’s lesson, and about the Birgittine office and its structure.
Cantus Vallis Gratiae
The recordings are also released as an album titled Cantus Vallis Gratiae, available on streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube).
The Chants
Here are the chants!
Most of the chants are sung in the original Latin. A Swedish translation of the text is given with each chant. Sofia Lindroos and Valter Maasalo have adapted some of the Swedish translations into singable versions with permission from the rightholders and with respect for the composer, the original melody and the translation.
There is printable sheet music for most of the chants, reproduced with permission from the Cantus sororum songbook published by Hilkka-Liisa Vuori and Tuomo Pulkkinen in 2015.