Lagrime di San Pietro (Saint Peter’s Tears) by Orlande de Lassus
The composer Orlande de Lassus was born circa 1532 in the city of Mons. At the time Mons was part of the Habsburg Netherlands, however is now within the country of Belgium. Little is known with certainty about Orlande’s early life prior to turning 12, however legend says that the young Orlande had such a beautiful singing voice, he was kidnapped multiple times. Upon turning 12 Orlande left for Sicily with the condottiero (Mercenary Captain) Ferdinando Gonzaga.
Over the next few years Orlande would live in multiple cities within Italy including Naples and Rome, and would eventually become maestro di cappella of the Basically of Saint John Lateran in 1553. Orlande would only hold this position for a year before departing on a trip to England and France, with the composer Giovanni Palestrina taking over the role.
It would not be until 1556 when Orlande was offered the position of court musician to Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria, that the composer would seem to have found his ‘home’. Living in Munich, Orlande would marry the daughter of the maid of honor to a Duchess, and have two sons and a daughter (both sons themselves becoming composer).
By 1570, Orlande must have built a considerable reputation in Europe, as he was conferred a nobility by Maximilian II, King of Bohemia and Germany, and Holy Roman Emperor. Despite numerous lucrative offers from royal courts around Europe, Orlande would never leave his home in Munich.
The final work that Orlande de Lassus would composer would also be his most famous, a collection of 21 spiritual madrigals collectively titled ‘Lagrime di San Pietro’ (Tears of St. Peter). The composer completed the work in 1594, and would dedicate the collection to the current pope, Clement VIII. De Lassus would die only a few months later in June of 1594.
The 21 madrigals in this collection are:
I. Il magnanimo Pietro, che giurato havea, LV 1005
II. Ma gli archi che net petto gli aventaro, LV 1006
III. Tre volte haveva a l’importuna e audace, LV 1007
IV. Qual a l'incontro di quelli occhi santi, LV 1008
V. Giovane donna il suo bel viso in specchio, LV 1009
VI. Così talhor benchè profane cose, LV 1010
VII. Ogni occhio del signor lingua veloce, LV 1011
VIII. Nessun fedel trovai, nessun cortese, LV 1012
IX. Chi ad una ad una raccontar potesse, LV 1013
X. Come falda di neve, che agghi acciata, LV 1014
XI. E non fu il pianto suo rivo o corrente, LV 1015
XII. Quel volto, ch’era poco inanzi stato, LV 1016
XIII. Veduto il miser, quando differente, LV 1017
XIV. E vago d'incontrar, chi giusta pena, LV 1018
XV. Vattene vita va! dicea piangendo, LV 1019
XVI. O vita troppo rea, troppo fallace, LV 1020
XVII. A quanti già felici in giovinezza, LV 1021
XVIII. Non trovava mia fé si duro in troppo, LV 1022
XIX. Queste opre e più, ch’ el mondo et io sapeva, LV 1023
XX. Negando il mio signor negai qu’el ch’era, LV 1024
XXI. Vide homo, quæ pro te patior, LV 1025
