Te Deum on a stained glass window in the Sorrowful Mother Shrine Chapel (Bellevue, Ohio)
Manuscript of the Te Deum at the Vatican - Reg. Lat. 11, fol. 230v - Frankish Hymnal of the Mid-8th Century
Music is found in every culture around the world and has existed for at least 55,000 years.
Although musical compositions may have existed this far back in human history, the earliest written songs only date back to over 3,000 years ago.
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Te Deum is one of the earliest Christian songs of praise.
Te Deum Laudamus - Latin for 'Thee, O God, we praise' - is traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier.
It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Church with other parts of the Ambrosian Rite of Milan in the 6th to 8th centuries.
It is sometimes known as the Ambrosian Hymn, although authorship by Saint Ambrose is unlikely.
The term Te Deum can also refer to a short religious service of blessing or thanks based upon the hymn.
Te Deum (387 AD)