Composers

Orlande de Lassus

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11 Pièces latines à deux voix

A

Ad coenam agni providi, LV Anh.1Ad preces nostras, LV Anh.2Adoramus te Christe, LV 1092Alma redemptoris mater, LV 728Angelus ad pastores ait, LV 115Antiphonae septem ad Vesperas Corporis Christi, LV Anh.3Antiphonae septem ad Vesperas Sancti Michaelis, LV Anh.4Asperges me, LV 528Asperges me, LV 529Audi benigne conditor, LV Anh.5Aurea luce et decore, LV Anh.6Ave maris stella, LV Anh.7Ave Regina caelorum, LV 554Ave Regina caelorum, LV 717

B

Beati omnes qui timent Dominum, LV 553Benedicam Dominum qui tribuit, LV 875Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, LV Anh.10Benedictus es Domine, LV 856

C

Chi ad una ad una, LV 1013Choirbook, D-Mbs Mus. MS AChrist ist erstanden, LV 746Christe qui lux es, LV Anh.12Christe redemptor omnium, LV Anh.13Christe redemptor omnium, LV Anh.14Concupiscendo concupiscit anima mea, LV 226Conditor alme siderum, LV Anh.15Confitebor tibi Domine, LV 848

D

Das HymnariumDe profundis clamavi, LV 799Deus misereatur nostri, LV 266Deus noster refugium et virtus, LV 223Deus tuorum militum, LV Anh.20Deus tuorum militum, LV Anh.21Deutsche geistliche Psalmen mit drei StimmenDoctor egregie, LV Anh.22Domine convertere, LV 849Domine Dominus noster, LV 637Domine in auxilium meum respice, LV 867Domine ne in furore, LV 796Domine non est exaltatum, LV 541Dominus scit cogitationes hominum, LV 58

E

Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum, LV 1129Ego dixi Domine miserere mei, LV 551Ego sum pauper dolens, LV 545Exaudi Deus orationem meam, LV 547Expectans expectavi, LV 873Exultet coelum laudibus, LV Anh.24

F

Fit porta Christi pervia, LV Anh.48Fortem virili pectore

H

Haec dies, quam fecit Dominus, LV Anh.49Hostis Herodes impie, LV Anh.51

I

Improperium expectavit cor meum, LV 852In exitu Israel, LV Anh.55In manus tuas, LV Anh.56In te speravi Domine, LV 690Iste confessor, LV Anh.59

J

Jesu corona virginum, LV Anh.52Jesu nostra redemptio, LV Anh.53Jubilate Deo omnis terra, LV 854

L

Laetatus sum, LV 543Lauda mater ecclesia, LV Anh.72Laudate Dominum quoniam bonus, LV 343Lectio nona, LV 217Lectio octava, LV 216Lectio prima, LV 535Lectio quarta, LV 212Lectio quinta, LV 213Lectio secunda, LV 210Lectio secunda, LV 536Lectio secunda, LV 677Lectio septima, LV 215Lectio sexta, LV 214Lectio sexta, LV 681Lectio tertia, LV 211Lectio tertia, LV 537Lectio tertia, LV 678LectionesLevavi oculos meos, LV 267Lucis creator optime, LV Anh.73Lumen ad revelationem, LV Anh.74

M

Magnificat octavi toniMagnificat octavi toni, LV 1066Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1069Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1177Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1178Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1179Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1190Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1194Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1195Magnificat octavi toni, LV 1196Magnificat octavi toni, LV 278Magnificat octavi toni, LV 286Magnificat octavi toni, LV 294Magnificat octavi toni, LV 897Magnificat octavi toni, LV 927Magnificat peregrini toni, LV 892Magnificat primi toniMagnificat primi toni, LV 1156Magnificat primi toni, LV 1157Magnificat primi toni, LV 1158Magnificat primi toni, LV 1159Magnificat primi toni, LV 271Magnificat primi toni, LV 279Magnificat primi toni, LV 287Magnificat primi toni, LV 555Magnificat primi toni, LV 887Magnificat primi toni, LV 890Magnificat primi toni, LV 891Magnificat primi toni, LV 894Magnificat primi toni, LV 921Magnificat quarti toniMagnificat quarti toni, LV 1164Magnificat quarti toni, LV 1165Magnificat quarti toni, LV 1166Magnificat quarti toni, LV 1192Magnificat quarti toni, LV 274Magnificat quarti toni, LV 282Magnificat quarti toni, LV 290Magnificat quarti toni, LV 557Magnificat quarti toni, LV 896Magnificat quarti toni, LV 924Magnificat quinti toniMagnificat quinti toni, LV 1067Magnificat quinti toni, LV 1167Magnificat quinti toni, LV 1184Magnificat quinti toni, LV 275Magnificat quinti toni, LV 283Magnificat quinti toni, LV 291Magnificat quinti toni, LV 556Magnificat secundi toniMagnificat secundi toni, LV 1070Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1151Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1160Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1161Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1162Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1180Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1181Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1182Magnificat secundi toni, LV 1183Magnificat secundi toni, LV 272Magnificat secundi toni, LV 280Magnificat secundi toni, LV 288Magnificat secundi toni, LV 888Magnificat secundi toni, LV 889Magnificat secundi toni, LV 893Magnificat secundi toni, LV 899Magnificat secundi toni, LV 922Magnificat septimi toniMagnificat septimi toni, LV 1154Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1155Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1172Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1173Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1174Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1175Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1176Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1187Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1188Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1189Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1191Magnificat septimi toni, LV 1193Magnificat septimi toni, LV 277Magnificat septimi toni, LV 285Magnificat septimi toni, LV 293Magnificat septimi toni, LV 559Magnificat septimi toni, LV 895Magnificat septimi toni, LV 926Magnificat septimi toni, LV Anh.75Magnificat sexti toniMagnificat sexti toni, LV 1068Magnificat sexti toni, LV 1153Magnificat sexti toni, LV 1168Magnificat sexti toni, LV 1169Magnificat sexti toni, LV 1170Magnificat sexti toni, LV 1171Magnificat sexti toni, LV 1185Magnificat sexti toni, LV 1186Magnificat sexti toni, LV 276Magnificat sexti toni, LV 284Magnificat sexti toni, LV 292Magnificat sexti toni, LV 558Magnificat sexti toni, LV 925Magnificat sexti toni, LV Anh.76Magnificat tertii toniMagnificat tertii toni, LV 1152Magnificat tertii toni, LV 1163Magnificat tertii toni, LV 273Magnificat tertii toni, LV 281Magnificat tertii toni, LV 289Magnificat tertii toni, LV 898Magnificat tertii toni, LV 923MagnificatsMagnum opus musicumManuscript, D-Mbs Mus.ms.2749Manuscript, D-Mbs Mus.ms.2750Manuscript, D-Mbs Mus.ms.32Meditabor in mandatis tuis, LV 692MessenMissa ad imitationem moduli Doulce memoire, LV 619Missa ad imitationem moduli In te Domine speravi, LV 269Missa ad imitationem moduli Jäger, LV 622Missa ad imitationem moduli O passi sparsi, LV 621Missa ad imitationem moduli Puis que j'ai perdu, LV 620Missa ad imitationem moduli Surge propera, LV 625Missa ad imitationem moduli Susanne un Jour, LV 408Missa ad imitationem moduli Tous les regretz, LV 626Missa ad imitationem moduli Vinum bonum, LV 627Missa Cantorum, LV Anh.80Missa De Feria in Quadragesima, LV Anh.82Missa De Feria in Septimana Sancta, LV Anh.83Missa De Feria, LV 623Missa Octavi toni à 5Missa Paschalis, LV Anh.96Missa pro defunctis, LV 624Missa pro defunctis, LV 963Missa Sesquialtera, LV Anh.101Missa super Alleluia à 5, LV Anh.77Missa super Alleluia à 5, LV Anh.78Missa super Amar donna, LV 959Missa super Amor ecco colei, LV 1147Missa super Beatus qui intelligit, LV 920Missa super Bella Amfitrit' altera, LV 1146Missa super Benedicam Dominum, LV Anh.79Missa super Certa fortiter, LV 1148Missa super Confundantur superbi, LV Anh.81Missa super Congratulamini mihi, LV 410Missa super Credidi propter, LV 526Missa super Deus in adiutorium, LV 1150Missa super Dittes maistresse, LV 958Missa super Dixit Joesph, LV 1144Missa super Domine Dominus noster, LV Anh.85Missa super Domine secundum actum meum, LV 409Missa super Ecce Maria, LV Anh.86Missa super Ecce nunc benedicite, LV 1149Missa super Entre vous filles, LV 650Missa super Frère Thibault, LV 417Missa super Il me suffit, LV 649Missa super In die tribulationis, LV 961Missa super In me transierunt à 5, LV Anh.87Missa super In principio, LV Anh.88Missa super Io son ferito ahi lasso, LV 962Missa super Ite rime dolenti, LV 523Missa super Je ne mange poinct de porcq, LV 414Missa super Je prens en gres, LV Anh.89Missa super Je suis desheritée, LV Anh.90Missa super Jesus ist ein süßer Nam', LV Anh.91Missa super La, la, maistre Pierre, LV 415Missa super Laudate Dominum, LV 953Missa super Le berger et la bergère, LV 418Missa super Locutus sum, LV 919Missa super On me l'a dict, LV Anh.94Missa super Or sus à coup, LV 1145Missa super Osculetur me, LV Anh.95Missa super Pilons pilons lorge, LV 416Missa super Qual donna attende, LV 960Missa super Quand'io penso al martire, LV 675Missa super Qui la dira, LV Anh.97Missa super Rompi de l'empio cor, LV Anh.99Missa super Scarco di doglia, LV 524Missa super Se salamandre, LV Anh.100Missa super Si rore aenio, LV Anh.103Missa super Sidus ex claro, LV 525Missa super Surrexit pastor bonus, LV Anh.105Missa super Tempus est ut revertar, LV Anh.106Missa super Triste départ, LV Anh.107Missa super Veni in hortum meum, LV 651Missae aliquot quinque vocum, LV 1574.3Missus est angelus Gabriel, LV 218

N

Nunc dimittis quinti toni, LV Anh.116Nunc dimittis sexti toni, LV Anh.121

O

O lux beta trinitas, LV Anh.134Officia aliquot de praecipuis Festis Anni, LV 1574.4Officium Ascensionis Domini, LV Anh.124Officium Corporis Christi, LV 533Officium Corporis Christi, LV Anh.125Officium Epiphaniae Domini, LV Anh.126Officium in feira secunda post Resurrectionem, LV Anh.127Officium in feria tertia post Resurrectionem, LV Anh.128Officium in Purificatione Beatae Mariae Virginis, LV Anh.129Officium in Quinquagesima, LV Anh.130Officium Natalis Christi, LV 530Officium Paschale, LV 531Officium Pentecostes, LV 532Officium primum In Nativitate Domini, LV Anh.131Officium Resurrectionis Domini, LV Anh.132Officium Sancti Michaelis, LV Anh.133

P

Pange lingua gloriosi, LV Anh.135Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem, LV Anh.136Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam, LV Anh.137Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Marcum, LV Anh.138Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Mattheum, LV 534PassionenPetrus beatus catenarum, LV Anh.139Prolongati sunt dies mei, LV 975

Q

Quare tristis es anima mea, LV 472Quincumque christum queritis, LV Anh.141

R

Regina coeli laetare, LV 1127Requiem à 4, LV Anh.98Responsoria in Nativitate Domini, LV Anh.142Responsoria, LV Anh.58, 142-146Responsorium in exequiis, LV Anh.147Rex gloriose martirum, LV Anh.148

S

Sabbato Sancto, LV Anh.145Salvete flores martyrum, LV Anh.151Sanctorum meritis, LV Anh.152Stabat Mater, LV 879

T

Te lucis ante terminum, LV Anh.153Te lucis ante terminum, LV Anh.154Teutsche PsalmenTibi christe splendor patris, LV Anh.155Tristes erant apostoli, LV Anh.156

U

Urbs beata Jerusalem, LV Anh.157Ut queant laxis, LV Anh.158

V

Veni creator spiritus, LV Anh.159Vexilla regis prodeunt, LV Anh.160Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, LV 972

Z

Zachaee festinans descende, LV 252
Wikipedia
Orlande de Lassus (also Roland de Lassus, Orlando di Lasso, Orlandus Lassus, Orlande de Lattre or Roland de Lattre; 1532, possibly 1530 – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance, chief representative of the mature polyphonic style of the Franco-Flemish school, and considered to be one of the three most famous and influential musicians in Europe at the end of the 16th century (the other two being Palestrina and Victoria).
Orlande de Lassus was born in Mons in the County of Hainaut, Habsburg Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). Information about his early years is scanty, although some uncorroborated stories have survived, the most famous of which is that he was kidnapped three times because of the singular beauty of his singing voice. At the age of twelve, he left the Low Countries with Ferrante Gonzaga and went to Mantua, Sicily, and later Milan (from 1547 to 1549). While in Milan, he made the acquaintance of the madrigalist Spirito l'Hoste da Reggio, a formative influence on his early musical style.
He then worked as a singer and a composer for Costantino Castrioto in Naples in the early 1550s, and his first works are presumed to date from this time. Next he moved to Rome, where he worked for Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who maintained a household there, and in 1553, he became maestro di cappella of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the ecumenical mother church of Rome and a spectacularly prestigious post indeed for a man only twenty-one years old. However, he stayed there for only a year. (Palestrina would assume this post a year later, in 1555.)
No solid evidence survives for his whereabouts in 1554, but there are contemporary claims that he traveled in France and England. In 1555 he returned to the Low Countries and had his early works published in Antwerp (1555–1556). In 1556 he joined the court of Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria, who was consciously attempting to create a musical establishment on a par with the major courts in Italy. Lassus was one of several Netherlanders to work there, and by far the most famous. He evidently was happy in Munich and decided to settle there. In 1558 he married Regina Wäckinger, the daughter of a maid of honor of the Duchess. They had two sons, both of whom became composers, and his daughter married the painter Hans von Aachen. By 1563 Lassus had been appointed maestro di cappella, succeeding Ludwig Daser in the post. Lassus remained in the service of Albrecht V and his heir, Wilhelm V, for the rest of his life.
By the 1560s Lassus had become quite famous, and composers began to go to Munich to study with him. Andrea Gabrieli went there in 1562, and possibly remained in the chapel for a year. Giovanni Gabrieli also possibly studied with him in the 1570s. His renown had spread outside strictly musical circles, for in 1570 Emperor Maximilian II conferred nobility upon him, a rare circumstance for a composer. Pope Gregory XIII knighted him and in 1571, and again in 1573, the king of France, Charles IX, invited him to visit. Some of these kings and aristocrats attempted to woo him away from Munich with more attractive offers, but Lassus was evidently more interested in the stability of his position, and the splendid performance opportunities of Albrecht's court, than in financial gain. "I do not want to leave my house, my garden, and the other good things in Munich", he wrote to the Duke of Electorate of Saxony in 1580, upon receiving an offer for a position in Dresden.
In the late 1570s and 1580s Lassus made several visits to Italy, where he encountered the most modern styles and trends. In Ferrara, the center of avant-garde activity, he doubtless heard the madrigals being composed for the d'Este court. However, his own style remained conservative and became simpler and more refined as he aged. In the 1590s his health began to decline, and he went to a doctor named Thomas Mermann for treatment of what was called "melancholia hypocondriaca", but he was still able to compose as well as travel occasionally. His final work was often considered one of his best pieces: an exquisite set of twenty-one madrigali spirituali known as the Lagrime di San Pietro ("Tears of St. Peter"), which he dedicated to Pope Clement VIII, and which was published posthumously in 1595. Lassus died in Munich on 14 June 1594, the same day that his employer decided to dismiss him for economic reasons. He never saw the letter. He was buried in Munich in the Alter Franziskaner Friedhof, a cemetery that was cleared of gravestones in 1789 and is now the site of Max-Joseph-Platz.
One of the most prolific, versatile, and universal composers of the late Renaissance, Lassus wrote over 2,000 works in all Latin, French, Italian and German vocal genres known in his time. These include 530 motets, 175 Italian madrigals and villanellas, 150 French chansons, and 90 German lieder. No strictly instrumental music by Lassus is known to survive, or ever to have existed: an interesting omission for a composer otherwise so wide-ranging and prolific, during an age when instrumental music was becoming an ever-more prominent means of expression, all over Europe. The German music publisher Adam Berg dedicated 5 volumes of his Patrocinium musicum (published from 1573–1580) to Lassus' music.
Lassus remained Catholic during this age of religious discord, though this neither hindered him in writing worldly secular songs nor in employing music originally to racy texts in his Magnificats and masses employing parody technique. Nevertheless, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, which under Jesuit influence was reaching a peak in Bavaria in the late sixteenth century, had a demonstrable impact on Lassus' late work, including the liturgical music for the Roman Rite, the burgeoning number of Magnificats, the settings of the Catholic Ulenberg Psalter (1588), and especially the great penitential cycle of spiritual madrigals, the Lagrime di San Pietro (1594).
Almost 60 masses have survived complete; most of them are parody masses) using as melodic source material secular works written by himself or other composers. Technically impressive, they are nevertheless the most conservative part of his output. He usually conformed the style of the mass to the style of the source material, which ranged from Gregorian chant to contemporary madrigals, but always maintained an expressive and reverent character in the final product.
Several of his masses are based on extremely secular French chansons; some of the source materials were outright obscene. Entre vous filles de quinze ans, "Oh you fifteen-year old girls", by Jacob Clemens non Papa, gave him source material for his 1581 Missa entre vous filles, probably the most scandalous of the lot. This practice was not only accepted but encouraged by his employer, which can be confirmed by evidence from their correspondence, much of which has survived.
In addition to his traditional imitation masses, he wrote a considerable quantity of missae breves, "brief masses", syllablic short masses meant for brief services (for example, on days when Duke Albrecht went hunting: evidently he did not want to be detained by long-winded polyphonic music). The most extreme of these is a work actually known as the Jäger Mass (Missa venatorum)—the "Hunter's Mass".
Some of his masses show influence from the Venetian School, particularly in their use of polychoral techniques (for example, in the eight-voice Missa osculetur me, based on his own motet). Three of his masses are for double choir, and they may have been influential on the Venetians themselves; after all, Andrea Gabrieli visited Lassus in Munich in 1562, and many of Lassus's works were published in Venice. Even though Lassus used the contemporary, sonorous Venetian style, his harmonic language remained conservative in these works: he adapted the texture of the Venetians to his own artistic ends.
Lassus is one of the composers of a style known as musica reservata—a term which has survived in many contemporary references, many of them seemingly contradictory. The exact meaning of the term is a matter of fierce debate, though a rough consensus among musicologists is that it involves intensely expressive setting of text and chromaticism, and that it may have referred to music specifically written for connoisseurs. A famous composition by Lassus representative of this style is his series of 12 motets entitled Prophetiae Sibyllarum, in a wildly chromatic idiom which anticipates the work of Gesualdo; some of the chord progressions in this piece were not to be heard again until the 20th century.
Lassus wrote four settings of the Passion, one for each of the Evangelists, St. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All are for a cappella voices. He sets the words of Christ and the narration of the Evangelist as chant, while setting the passages for groups polyphonically.
As a composer of motets, Lassus was one of the most diverse and prodigious of the entire Renaissance. His output varies from the sublime to the ridiculous, and he showed a sense of humor not often associated with sacred music: for example, one of his motets satirizes poor singers (his setting of Super flumina Babylonis, for five voices) which includes stuttering, stopping and starting, and general confusion; it is related in concept if not in style to Mozart's A Musical Joke. Many of his motets were composed for ceremonial occasions, as could be expected of a court composer who was required to provide music for visits of dignitaries, weddings, treaties and other events of state. But it was as a composer of religious motets that Lassus achieved his widest and most lasting fame.
Lassus's 1584 setting of the seven Penitential Psalms of David (Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales) is one of the most famous collections of psalm settings of the entire Renaissance. The counterpoint is free, avoiding the pervasive imitation of the Netherlanders such as Gombert, and occasionally using expressive devices foreign to Palestrina. As elsewhere, Lassus strives for emotional impact, and uses a variety of texture and care in text-setting towards that end. The penultimate piece in the collection, his setting of the De profundis (Psalm 129/130), is considered by many scholars to be one of the high-water marks of Renaissance polyphony, ranking alongside the two settings of the same text by Josquin des Prez.
Among his other liturgical compositions are hymns, canticles (including over 100 Magnificats), responsories for Holy Week, Passions, Lamentations, and some independent pieces for major feasts.
Lassus wrote in all the prominent secular forms of the time. In the preface to his collection of German songs, Lassus lists his secular works: Italian madrigals and French chansons, German and Dutch songs. He is probably the only Renaissance composer to write prolifically in five languages – Latin in addition to those mentioned above – and he wrote with equal fluency in each. Many of his songs became hugely popular, circulating widely in Europe. In these various secular songs, he conforms to the manner of the country of origin while still showing his characteristic originality, wit, and terseness of statement.
In his madrigals, many of which he wrote during his stay in Rome, his style is clear and concise, and he wrote tunes which were easily memorable; he also "signed" his work by frequently using the word 'lasso' (and often setting with the sol-fege syllables la-sol, i.e. A-G in the key of C). His choice of poetry varied widely, from Petrarch for his more serious work to the lightest verse for some of his amusing canzonettas.
Lassus often preferred cyclic madrigals, i.e. settings of multiple poems in a group as a set of related pieces of music. For example, his fourth book of madrigals for five voices begins with a complete sestina by Petrarch, continues with two-part sonnets, and concludes with another sestina: therefore the entire book can be heard as a unified composition with each madrigal a subsidiary part.
Another form which Lassus cultivated was the French chanson, of which he wrote about 150. Most of them date from the 1550s, but he continued to write them even after he was in Germany: his last productions in this genre come from the 1580s. They were enormously popular in Europe, and of all his works, they were the most widely arranged for instruments such as lute and keyboard. Most were collected in the 1570s and 1580s in three publications: one by Petrus Phalesius the Elder in 1571, and two by Le Roy and Ballard in 1576 and 1584. Stylistically, they ranged from the dignified and serious, to playful, bawdy, and amorous compositions, as well as drinking songs suited to taverns. Lassus followed the polished, lyrical style of Sermisy rather than the programmatic style of Clément Janequin for his writing.
One of the most famous of Lassus's drinking songs was used by Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part II. English words are fitted to Un jour vis un foulon qui fouloit (as Monsieur Mingo) and sung by the drunken Justice Silence, in Act V, Scene iii.
A third type of secular composition by Lassus was the German lied. Most of these he evidently intended for a different audience, since they are considerably different in tone and style from either the chansons or madrigals; in addition, he wrote them later in life, with none appearing until 1567, when he was already well-established at Munich. Many are on religious subjects, although light and comic verse is represented as well. He also wrote drinking songs in German, and contrasting with his parallel work in the genre of the chanson, he also wrote songs on the unfortunate aspects of overindulgence.
In the preface to his collection of German songs, Lassus states that he had composed Dutch songs. However, no Dutch song has been preserved.
In the Arthur Conan Doyle short story "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans," Sherlock Holmes is working on a monograph about the polyphonic motets of Lassus.