A solis ortus cardine

"A solis ortus cardine" (Latin for "From the Pivot of the Sun's Rising") is a Hiberno-Latin poem by Coelius Sedulius (died c. 450), recounting Christ's life from his birth to his resurrection.

[1][2] The original Latin hymn and Luther's translation have been set for chorus and organ by many composers including Dufay, di Lasso, Praetorius, Palestrina, Scheidt, de Grigny and Bach.

With the other Latin texts of Sedulius, it enjoyed wide circulation in the church and in schools from late antiquity and medieval times until the end of the seventeenth century.

Polyphony of this kind became less common during the reign of Edward VI, when the English Reformation resulted in choirs being disbanded and organs dismantled.

Below is the text of A solis ortus cardine with the eleven verses translated into English by John Mason Neale in the nineteenth century.