Kyrie is a Greek word that means Lord or Oh, Lord. It is the title of a prayer during the Roman Catholic Mass, led by the priest or celebrant, and repeated by the congregation.
Kyrie eleison / Christe eleison / Kyrie eleison.
(Lord have mercy / Christ have mercy / Lord have mercy.)
It has often been set to music, such as Johann Sebastian Bach's Messe in H-Moll, BWV 232 or Bogurodzica. It was also the title of a hit song by the 1980's pop group Mr. Mister, featuring the phrase "Kyrie eleison".
Kyrie is the vocative case of the Greek word κύριος (kyrios - lord) and means O Lord; it is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called Kyrieeleison.
The Kyrie is the first sung prayer in the Ordinary of the pre–1969 Tridentine Mass, and is a mandatory part of any musical setting of the Mass.
In fact, because of the late date of most Kyries, it is not always clear whether a particular Kyrie melody or the apparently troped text came first; it could just as easily be the case that a syllabic song was converted into a melisma for a Kyrie verse.
KyrieEleison (Greek for "Lord have mercy"; the Latin transliteration supposes a pronunciation as in Modern Greek) is a very old, even pre-Christian, expression used constantly in all Christian liturgies.
The names of the various Kyries in the Vatican Gradual (for instance, Kyrie Cunctipotens genitor Deus of the tenth century, Kyrie magnæ Deus potentiæ of the thirteenth century, etc.) are still traces of this.
The KyrieEleison (as all the Ordinary and proper of the choir) may also be sung to figured music that does not offend against the rules of Pius X's "Motu proprio" on church music (22 Nov., 1903).
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