Prophetiae Sibyllarum

Prophetiae Sibyllarum ("Sibylline Prophecies" or "Sibylline Oracles") are a series of twelve motets by the Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus. The works are known for their extremely chromatic idiom.

This cycle of motets is said to have been given as a personal gift to Albrecht V. of Bavaria, Lassus' employer, after his arrival in Munich. By the time he had begun work in Germany, Lassus had already enjoyed great success in Italy as a composer for Costantino Castrioto, and was looking to make a new name for himself. The motets were first published in 1600, after Lassus' death in 1594, by his son Rudolph. There remains, however, a small amount of disagreement over the dates of the original manuscript. Boetticher suggests the date to be around 1550–52, during Lassus' time in Naples, while Alfred Einstein prefers a date between 1555 and 1560, by which time Lassus could have seen depictions of the sibyls in places like the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and in the Borgia Apartments of the Vatican.

Crook (1998) claims that the introduction, "Carmina Chromatico", has become, "probably the most analyzed piece of Renaissance music by any composer in any genre," since Lowinsky's 1961 discussion of the prelude's "triadic atonality". This can be understood by studying the Prologue to the cycle. The texture remains triadic, typical of the polyphony of that time, but modulates so often that the listener quickly loses the original tonal center. Lowinsky's discussion has led to other quandaries on the topic of the tonal coherence of the prologue. William J. Mitchell, takes issue with Lowinsky's conclusion and suggests that "perhaps the erosion of any stable tonal center is less the fault of Lasso, who seems to have made a splendid effort, than of the analysis which is indeed atonal." These debates are ultimately built on the question of theorists' license to analyze the piece through our modern lens of tonality and atonality.

The Prophetiae Sibyllarum text is made up of one three-line prologue and twelve six-line motets. All of the poems are in dactylic hexameter. The prophesies, each told by a different prophetess, tell of the coming of Christ. Given the Renaissance's fascination with mysticism and antiquity it is no surprise that Lassus would choose these prophesies as his text. The extremely chromatic setting of this text points toward Lassus' interactions with Cipriano de Rore and Nicola Vicentino, both known for their experiments with chromaticism, during his time at St. John Lateran. Lowinsky also speculates that "rendering the Sibylline prophecies in chromatic style, the young genius probably implied that chromaticism was the music of the future."

Prologue

I. Sibylla Persica

II. Sibylla Libyca

III. Sibylla Delphica

IV. Sibylla Cimmeria

V. Sibylla Samia

VI. Sibylla Cumana

VII. Sibylla Hellaspontica

VIII. Sibylla Phrygia

IX. Sibylla Europaea

X. Sibylla Tiburtina

XI. Sibylla Erythraea

XII. Sibylla Agrippa