Psalm and Celebration is based on Victimae paschali laudes (attributed to Wipo of Burgandy, 1000-1050). This Easter chant is one of the four remaining sequences left after the Council of Trent abolished all others.

1. To the Paschal Victim offer songs of praise, O Christians.
2. The Lamb has redeemed the sheep: innocent Christ has reconciled sinners to the Father.
3. Death and life have engaged in miraculous combat: the leader of life is slain, yet living he reigns.
4. Tell us, Mary, what you saw on the way?
5. I saw the sepulchre of the living Christ and the glory of His rising.
6. The angelic witnesses, the shroud and vesture.
7. Christ my hope is risen: he will go before his own into Galilee.
8. We know that Christ has truly risen from the dead: thou conqueror and king, have mercy on us.
Amen. Alleluia.

The Psalm presents the plainsong in its entirety, with accompanying counterpoint in two, three, and four parts. The Celebration is made up of bits and pieces from the melody (which are all introduced in the opening fanfares). The body of the movement is a study in quickly changing metric patterns. Near the end are two direct quotations from the opening of the Psalm.