Nunc dimittis
Nunc dimittis (English: now you may dismiss) are the opening words of Simeon's song of praise on the occasion of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple. After seeing Jesus, Simeon joyfully proclaims that he has seen God's salvation. Simeon had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die without seeing the Saviour. Source of text: Luke 2:29-31; usually followed by the minor doxology Gloria Patri.
In the Church of England, the Book of Common Prayer combined the offices of Vespers and Compline, stipulating that both the Magnificat and the Nunc dimittis be sung at Evening Prayer. For this reason, the Nunc dimittis is often found set to music in a pair with the Magnificat (see Category:Evening Canticles). In the traditional Roman rite, the Nunc dimittis also forms the Tract for Mass of the Presentation in the season after Septuagesima.
Musical settings at CPDL
In English, as part of an Evening Service
Other settings
Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above
- Nathaniel Adam — Evening Service (Tone II)
- Nathaniel Adam — Evening Service (Tone III)
- Robert Adams — Nunc dimittis
- John Amner — Second (Caesar's) Service
- Felice Anerio — Nunc dimittis
- Alexander Arkhangelsky — Evening Service in G
- Alexander Arkhangelsky — Nunc dimittis
- Richard Ayleward — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Short Service)
- Edward Bairstow — Evening service in G
- Giovanni Battista Bassani — Nunc dimittis
- Jennifer Bastable — Lord, now lettest thou thy servant (Nunc dimittis)
- Adrian Batten — Fourth Service
- Herbert Brewer — Evening canticles in D
- Herbert Brewer — Evening canticles in E flat
- William Byrd — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis
- William Byrd — Short Service
- Eustache du Caurroy — O Createur, tu remets
- Sebastiano Cherici — Nunc dimittis
- William Child — Service in G
- William Child — Sharp Service
- George Dyson — Nunc Dimittis in D Major
- Józef Elsner — Canticum Simeonis
- William Jackson of Exeter — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in C
- William Jackson of Exeter — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in E flat
- Richard Farrant — 'High' Evening Service
- Harvey Bartlett Gaul — Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
- Orlando Gibbons — Second Service
- Nathaniel Giles — Nunc dimittis
- James Gordon — The Song of Simeon
- Charles Gounod — Nunc dimittis in B Flat
- David Greenwood — Evening Service in C
- David Greenwood — Evening Service in D
- David Greenwood — St David's Evening Service
- Basil Harwood — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in E flat
- Edmund Hooper — Short Service
- Edmund Hooper — The 'Flat' Service - Nunc dimittis
- Edward John Hopkins — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in D
- Herbert Howells — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G
- John Ireland — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in F major
- Samuel Jacobi — Nunc dimittis
- Ross Jallo — Crediton Service
- Ross Jallo — Short Evening Service
- Philip James — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D
- Meirion Wynn Jones — The Second Service
- Viktor Kalinnikov — Ныне отпущаеши / Nunc dimittis
- Thomas Knyght — Evening Service for Men
- MB Krueger — Evening Service
- Pietro Lappi — Nunc dimittis à 16
- Tanmoy Laskar — Nunc dimittis
- Caroline Lesemann-Elliott — Short Service
- Richard Lloyd — Nunc dimittis (Hereford)
- Jean Louys — Or laisse, Créateur
- Arthur Henry Mann — Evening Service in E
- John Henry Maunder — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D
- Francis Melville — Kensington Service
- Francis Melville — Melville in A "The Service of Terrible Thirsts"
- Francis Melville — Nunc Brevis
- Jonathan Merrett — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis
- Ernest John Moeran — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in D
- Henry Molle — First Service
- John Mundy — Service for Men in 3 parts
- William Mundy — Service in medio chori
- Herbert Murrill — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
- Vincent Francis Novello — Evening canticles in E
- Diego Ortiz — Compline Service
- Robert Page — Evening Service in B flat
- Robert Page — Evening Service in G
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Nunc dimittis (a4)
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Nunc dimittis (a5)
- Jacobus Clemens non Papa — Nunc dimittis
- Valentin Rathgeber — Nunc dimittis, Op. IX, No. 40
- Jakob Reiner — Nunc dimittis
- James Hotchkiss Rogers — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D
- Caleb Simper — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D
- Arthur Somervell — A simple Evening Service
- John Alcock Sr. — Third Service in F (1788): Evening Canticles
- Heathcote Statham — Nunc dimittis in E minor
- Charles Steggall — Evening service in G
- Charles Steggall — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in B flat
- Alastair Stout — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, The Verse Service
- Thomas Tallis — Short (Dorian) Service
- Thomas Tomkins — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from the Third Service
- Thomas Tomkins — Morning and Evening Canticles from the Fourth Service
- John Ebenezer West — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in E flat
- Ralph Vaughan Williams — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C
- John S. Wilson — Nunc Dimittis on the fifth tone
- Charles Wood — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis founded on an old Scotch chant
- Peter Yost — Nunc dimittis
Common texts
Latin text
|
English text The Book of Common Prayer, 1662 |
German text
|
New Testament text & translations
Greek text Νυν απολύεις τον δούλον σου, Δέσποτα, κατά το ρήμα σου εν ειρήνη, |
Russian translation Ныне отпущаеши раба Твоего, Владыко, |
Serbian translation Ниње отпушчајеши |
Chinese translation Modern Chinese: |
Chinese translation Classical Chinese: |
Dutch translation Heer laat Uw dienaar nu, |
Danish translation Herre, nu lader du din tjener gå bort |
Italian translation Ora lascia, o Signore, che il tuo servo |
Vietnamese translation Compline |
Metrical versions
English Psalters
English translation Old Version Metrical Psalter 86. 86 (C.M.) |
English text New Version Metrical Psalter (CM) |
Genevan Psalter
French text Versification by Clément Marot (1538) |
Dutch text Translation Marnix van st Aldegonde (1580) |