Gelukkig - beurtzang naar psalm 32 = How Happy - Antiphonal Song from Psalm 32, 1979 - 1981

Oosterhuis' drew on Psalm 32 for his text, a public hymn of thanksgiving about repentance and forgiveness. It has the didactic qualities of Wisdom Literature characteristic of its post-Exilic origin. Sung during a ritual occasion of repentance and purification in the Temple, it followed the tradition of Leviticus 4:27 - 5:19, and 14:1-57. Perhaps the psalmist had recovered from some grave illness through personal repentance, and having been forgiven, had been restored to health with the gratitude to sing publicly of this.

Translation issues as always arose, as to the meaning and economy of Oosterhuis' language and the tautness of Huijbers' musical expression. The first line of the refrain, Gelukkig is de mens - Jubilant are they, we decided to make it more generic more singable, How happy is the one; Gelukkig has its stress on the second syllable. The second line of the refrain, wiens onrecht is vergeten literally means whose injustice is forgotten, but since the notation allowed only two syllables, Huijbers advocated sins, and I argued him into settling for the collective plural sin as better representing commuunal wrongdoing, than that of simple personal misdemeanors. We adhered closely to the melismatic phrasing throughout. Verse 1 opens, Zolang ik doof was - So long I deaf was, with the stress on doof; we agreed on the emphatic phrase, So long, so deaf. Other minor compromise were made throughout, since translation is always theft, though we preserved the integrity of the text. The melody Huijbers chose for this piece, Videns Dominus - the Lord seeing the sisters weeping at Lazarus' death, was moved to compassion, is the communion antiphon for the 5th Sunday of Lent in Year A, also the RCIA cycle of readings from the Matthew cycle. In is taken from the Gospel for that day. John 11:1-45, about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. A dead man, once again, among the living! This story is symbolic, about the resurrection of Jesus, and about the longevity of the koinonia, the community nourished by that memory of Jesus' promises. Lazarus, once and then brought back to life, would not have been able to die again, and would now be the oldest man on earth! Its association with a dead man returning to life is enough to ensure happiness to all who embrace God's word and the vision to be found in the promise of that - Tony Barr