Purpose:
To analyze Lasso’s ‘Tristis est anima’, specifically the musical techniques and symbolism of the music.

Problem:
How do Lasso’s composition techniques powerfully reflect the meaning of the Christian Gospel?

 Orlande de Lasso’s motet Tristis est anima mea reveals, through ingenious music composition and text, the deep meaning of the Christian Gospel, which has and continues to eternally change countless people in the world.  The message of the story is “that no matter how dutiful or prayerful we are, we can’t save ourselves.  What Jesus did was sufficient” (Manning 77).  “The cross displays the depth of the Father’s love for us – ‘for greater love than this no one has than that he lay down his life for his friends” (Manning 75).  An understanding of the message spiritually moves believers.   Hearing the profound music that emphasizes the core of Christianity further promotes the spiritual impact.

 Lasso uses as the cantus firmus the text from “a Respond for Maundy Thursday, based on the words of Jesus before he was crucified, as reported in Matthew 26:38 and Mark 14:34” (Grout 245).  In the New Revised Standard Version of The Holy Bible, they are “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me” and “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake” in the books of Matthew and Mark, respectively.   The translation of the Latin text of the motet is: “Sad is my soul, even unto death; abide here and watch with me; soon you will see the crowd that will encircle me; you will take flight, and I shall go to be sacrificed for you” (Palisca 255).  The actual Latin text is: “Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem: sustinete hic et vigilate mecum: nunc videbitis turbam, quae circmdabit me; vos fugam capietis, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis” (Palisca 255) and can be broken down into four main phrases: first, Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem; second, sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum; third, nunc videbitis turbam, quae circumdabit me; and fourth, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis.  The texts can be further divided into the following smaller musical phrases: first, Tristis est anima mea; second, usque ad mortem; third, sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum, with emphasis on the et vigilate mecum; fourth, nunc videbitis turbam, the emphasis on nunc videbitis; fifth, quae circumdabit me; sixth, vos fugam capietis; seventh, et ego vadam immolari; and lastly, pro vobis.  The addition to Jesus’ words in the Respond about the followers’ taking flight (the phrase after the last semicolon) reiterates the infinitely priceless value of the Savior’s sacrifice.  Lasso disingenuously incorporates common musical elements to portray the profound, intangible meaning of the text.

 To emphasize the priceless meaning of the work, Lasso carefully creates a grave but peaceful and mellow timbre.  The motet is composed entirely of voices, maintaining a unified vocal timbre throughout the work. The cantus firmus is the highest line, and the first alto, second alto, tenor and bass lines, respectively, sing beneath the cantus firmus.  Lasso’s choice of only using voices allows for flexibility in timbre.  For example, in the beginning, Lasso transforms the quiet timbre to a blossoming one, maintaining the same sad quality of the work, by gradually adding one voice at a time to the work.  The tenor leads the way and repeats the first phrase of the text ‘Tristis est anima mea’ (‘Sad is my soul, even unto death’ in English) twice.  Halfway through the tenor singing the first syllable, the second alto and bass voices start the text together and repeat it twice.  The first alto joins two measures later, adding to the profound and serious timbre that has already been created.  Finally, the cantus firmus fulfills the peaceful sadness, gently singing the same phrase of the text at a much higher pitch level.  This example (“Example 1”) is pasted below.  Lasso also uses this same technique, creating a blossoming text by gradually adding voices but to a smaller extent, in measures seventeen to nineteen, on sustinete hic.  The flexibility of the exclusively vocal motet also allows for direct emphasis on repeated text or text that is sung simultaneously by all voices.  It adds more energy and creates a more powerful timbre.  The first example is in measures twenty-eight to thirty-five and measures forty-nine to the end, pasted below (“Example 2”).  Lasso successfully underlines the core meaning behind the text in these places: that even though his disciples are not faithful (nunc videbitis turbam), Jesus will still be a sacrifice for them (et ego vadam immmolari pro vobis).  The timbre of vos fugam capietis, depicting the escape of His eleven disciples, is especially warm, symbolizing Christ’s endless forgiveness.

 The melodic materials of the motet promote the meaning of the piece.  Studying the cantus firmus melody will give an accurate overview of the general melodic elements of the motet since the other voices pattern the cantus firmus.  The cantus firmus melody is itself a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.  Its high range, distant from all the other voices, resembles both His high superior spiritual level that we ourselves could never match as well as His separation from mankind to perform His duty.  It generates the sadness of the motet by using uncommon minor intervals of Lasso’s time, for example the two consecutive descending minor seconds in the beginning, and a descending minor third the second time the text tristis est anima mea comes in.  Lasso uses these intervals much more in the other voices.  Melodic shape plays a key role, and enhances the moderate pitch range of each voice.  Furthermore, the melody is linked with the text. The melody descends on long notes on ad mortem, ascends on suspensions on sustinete hic, descends and ascends around a central pitch on quae circumdabit me, and descends on vos fugam capietis.

The meaning of the text is further emphasized by repetition and imitation, which control the texture.  The same text of the Respond is sung in all five voices.  Going down from the highest pitch, the five voices are the cantus firmus, first alto, second alto, tenor, and bass.  Although the cantus firmus is composed of many long step-wise intervals, Lasso’s creative use of imitation makes the music captivating.  The words of the text are seldom sung at the same time.  In the first part of the text, for example, on ‘Tristis est anima mea’, the tenor begins, followed by the second alto and bass a half bar later on different notes, creating a full tonic F major chord.  While these three voices continue singing the text imitatively at similar but varying rhythms, the first alto comes in on the tonic, and then, finally, the cantus firmus enters a bar and a half later an octave higher.  Each of the smaller musical phrases listed in the first paragraph are repeated at least twice in each voice and start and end in an organized manner.  One voice begins and the others imitate it, following the general melodic pattern and rhythm.  A very good example of a direct imitation is seen for the text vos fugam capietis.  The exact rhythmic and melodic pattern, which starts on a C and descends to an F, is repeated three times in the cantus firmus and twice in the remaining four voices.  The eleven descending melodic phrases symbolize the flight of Christ’s eleven disciples as they run from the crowd that will persecute Him.  When the voices not only repeat the text but also simultaneously and imitatively do so, Lasso clearly indicates to the listeners the core parts of the work.  Depending on whether the voices are imitating each other or simultaneously proclaiming the text, the texture may be thin and overlapping, or thick and homophonic, respectively.  The work grows more homophonic the closer it is to the end.

 Even though the cantus firmus is mostly composed of whole notes and half notes, and hence, the other voices too, the motet moves because of Lasso’s incorporation of imitation and periodic insertion of quarter and eighth notes in the other voices.  Lasso makes use of imitation so that even though one voice may be stagnant and singing a long note, other voices will be moving forward on shorter notes.  For example, in measure forty-four, while the first alto holds out the ‘e’ syllable in capietis and the bass sings the long ’tis’ syllable in capietis, the second alto and tenor sing relatively fast moving consecutive half notes.  Lasso sets the sadness of the piece from the beginning by only using whole notes and half notes for the first musical phrase Tristis est anima mea.  He gradually adds quarter and eighth notes later in the work, after the sadness has pervaded the score.  The ending is extremely moving, the three measure long melismatic phrase owing its natural flow to the fast quarter-note step-wise melisma on pro.  The very last note, sung on the syllable ‘bis’ of vobis is the longest of the entire piece, and stretches into eternity with its fermata on the tonic chord.

 Lasso’s motets had come a long way from the thirteenth century motet, “when Latin or French words were added to the upper voice of clausulae” (Grout 84).  By the sixteenth century, texts had moved beyond those of “poems that may not have seemed particularly noteworthy” (Grout 86) to those of a serious nature, such as the “Responsory 2 from Maundy Thursday” (Bergquist 20). New techniques such as imitation, contrapuntal phrasing, basing the work on a cantus firmus, “thematic originality, and expressive word-painting”(Macmillan) are characteristic of Lasso’s “one-hundred twenty motets” (Bergquist 7).  His motets vary from “two voices” (Bergquist 9) to “eight voices” (Bergquist 9), and all voices have equal importance.  Even though Lasso’s “chief glory is his motets” (Grout 244), his other works include “masses, passions, canticles, mass prospers, lessons, lamentations, litanies, falsobordoni, hymns, responsories and antiphons, madrigals, other secular Italian works, chansons, German contrafacta, and lieder” (Macmillan).

 Tristis est anima mea is Lasso’s “best known motets” (Bergquist 14).  During Lasso’s services at Munich under Duke Albrecht V, “his repertory of motets could have fitted into celebrations of the Mass and Offices” (Macmillan).  How Lasso places the first and second altos, tenor, and bass voices to complement the cantus firmus as well as the theme of the work is impressive.  The strong text, based on “Jesus’ capture in the Garden of Gethsemane and the flight of his disciples” (Bergquist 14), is fully depicted through Lasso’s brilliant composition techniques including imitation, repetition, text painting, rhythm, and musical elements.  The powerful effect reflects the meaning of the Christian Gospel.

Bibliography
Grout, Donald.  A History of Western Music.  New York: W.W. Norton &
           Company, 2001.
Lasso, Motet no.7, Tristis est anima mea, ed. Peter Bergquist, of The Complete
          Motets.  A-R Editions, Inc: USA, 1996.
Macmillan Publishers Ltd.  “Orlande de Lassus”.  November 24, 2002.
             http://www.grovemusic.com
Manning, Brennan.  The Ragamuffin Gospel.  Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah
          Publishers, Inc., 2000.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: The Holy Bible. Iowa Falls, Iowa: World
           Bible Publishers, Inc., 1989.
Lasso, Di Orlando.  Motet: Tristis est anima mea, ed. Claude V. Palisca.  Volume
            1, of Norton Anthology of Western Music, ed. W.W. Norton & Company
            (New York, NY: 2001).