Dona nobis pacem

Dona nobis pacem (Latin for "Grant us peace") is a phrase in the Agnus Dei section of the mass. The phrase, in isolation, has been appropriated for a number of musical works, which include:

Classical music

"Dona nobis pacem", a traditional round
Dona nobis pacem, fugue by Ludwig van Beethoven (now thought genuine), Hess Anh. 57 (1795)
Dona nobis pacem, cantata by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1936)
Title of the third movement of Symphonie Liturgique by Arthur Honegger (1945)
Title of a choral work by Ann Loomis Silsbee (1981)
Dona nobis pacem for choir and orchestra by the Latvian composer, PÃÂteris Vasks (1996)
Title of section of ' by Karl Jenkins (2003)

Literature

"Dona Nobis Pacem" is repeatedly quoted in Graham Greene's 1938 novel Brighton Rock by its antihero Pinkie Brown.

"Dona Nobis Pacem" is used in Graham Greene's 1966 novel The Comedians.

Other Musical Uses

The song was included in Bobby Darin's Christmas album The 25th Day of December (1960).

The title of a song, from the Present from Nancy LP by the Dutch band Supersister (1970).

Referenced in the second half of the song "She Was Naked" by the Dutch band Supersister (1970).

Performed by cast members (as an impromptu choir) in the M*A*S*H Christmas episode "Dear Sis" (1978).

At the end of Pray Your Gods by Toad the Wet Sprocket (1992).

Bass guitarist Michael Manring performs an instrumental version on the Windham Hill compilation A Winter's Solstice IV (1993).

Included in an arrangement of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" recorded by Wayne Watson on One Christmas Eve (1994).

A setting by David Fanshawe, on the recording of African Sanctus (1994).

Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman performs the song on the Windham Hill compilation The Carols of Christmas (1996).

Updated with modern Christmas lyrics interpolated by American bluegrass group Salamander Crossing, as a bonus track on their compilation album Henry Street - A Retrospective (2000).

The title of a composition by Motoi Sakuraba in the video game Tales of Destiny 2 and featured throughout the series. (2002)

Track 12 of the album Whiskey Tango Ghosts, by Tanya Donelly (2004).

One track of the album No Boundaries, by Ladysmith Black Mambazo (2006).

The phrase is repeated in the song "Old City (Instrumental)" on the album Instrumentals by the Shanghai Restoration Project (2008).

The title of a track in the Max Richter score for the HBO show The Leftovers (2014).

A song performed by an unnamed family in season 3, episode 11 of The Handmaid's Tale, Liars (2019).

Other References

The phrase is used by the Doctor - season 4, episode 6 of Doctor Who, "The Poison Sky" - when speaking in code to Donna Noble who is trapped on the TARDIS by the Sontarans (2008).

Sister Steven, a character in the comic strip 9 Chickweed Lane repeatedly uses the phrase when her patience is being tried.

References

External links