Lagrime di San Pietro [1/3] - Orlando di Lasso (Score)

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For the English translation, click the caption/subtitle button.
Score of Orlando di Lasso's "Lagrime di San Pietro" ('Tears of Saint Peter'), a set of twenty spiritual madrigals in vernacular and a final motet in latin, composed in 1594. The madrigals are based on twenty poems written by Luigi Tansillo about the stages of grief St. Peter had to endure after his denial of Christ. Dedicated to Pope Clement VIII three weeks before his death and published posthumously the next year, it was Lassus' last composition and is considered one of his most important and mature works and even a landmark of Renaissance polyphony.
There has been a lot of numerological speculation, implying the constant appearance of the number 7. The set is written for seven voices (that could represent the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary, to whom he seems to allude as an abbreviation in the preface), many of the madrigals are structured in seven main sections (following the main cadences), and the work uses the first seven gregorian/church modes in a well ordered way (deliberately leaving the eight one out); in top of that, the total number of pieces could be interpreted as seven times the number of members of the Trinity (7*3=21). Be that as it may, I have followed this idea and decided to artificially divide the work into three main sequences.
00:00 - (Introduction)
00:15 - 1. Il magnanimo Pietro
02:34 - 2. Ma gli archi
04:59 - 3. Tre volte haveva
07:26 - 4. Quan a l'incontro
10:01 - 5. Giovane donna
12:23 - 6. Così talhor
14:24 - 7. Ogni occhio del signor
Performers: Musica Ficta Copenhagen, Bo Holten (conductor)

[@JarrettsAnnouncements]

I did one semester of 16th/18th century counterpoint and barely managed to “color inside the lines” of the dozens of rules and stylistic guidelines to pass. Lassus and the other masters have my respect for making actual MUSIC in this style. It’s no surprise to me that a composer at the height of his craft can weave in numerological secrets/tricks if he’s already juggling seven voices.

[@classicalmusicanalysis]

Exactly! And if one can word-paint (deptict musically what's being told in the text) with this mastery while following these strict rules, I'm sure playing with a mere number is nothing but a piece of cake.

[@jsleith]

@@classicalmusicanalysis Possibly my favorite such word-painting in this piece is in 7. Ogni occhio del signor, the downbeat of m. 18 (15:32 but start earlier). On the world 'croce' (cross), the first line's F# and the sixth line's F-natural produce a simultaneous cross relation, extremely rare for Lasso.