Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) was the greatest Spanish composer of the Renaissance, famous for his Officium Defunctorum. Born in the city of Ávila, in central Spain, Victoria served as a chorister at the local cathedral. When his Jesuit teachers saw that he was musically gifted, they sent him to their seminary in Rome. There, he would begin a successful career as a composer, organist, choirmaster, and a priest. Towards the end of his life, he returned to Spain to spend his remaining years in peace and quiet. It was then that he wrote his greatest work, the Officium Defunctorum, a requiem mass composed for the funeral service of the Dowager Empress Maria of Austria. It is a profound work of great beauty and undoubtedly the most stunning of all requiem mass settings.
“Victoria uses the Requiem Mass to paint a musical portrait of grief, where time stands still and the world, a different place through the veil of sorrow, moves slowly, sometimes painfully. The polyphony is solemn but incredibly intense; dissonance, which might usually be short, is augmented to draw out the hurt, passion and confusion.”
David Buckley, from the liner notes of Armonico Consort’s recording of Victoria’s Requiem
Victoria’s Officium Defunctorum roughly consists of four parts. Firstly, it begins with the motet Taedet animam meam, which serves as an introduction to the service. Its text has been taken from the Book of Job, reflecting the words of a man who is weary of life. Note how the notes are entirely at the service of the text, with the clear diction of the homorhythms and the pauses at line breaks. Secondly, the central part of the composition is the Missa de Profunctis. It consists of seven parts that were typical of a requiem mass: Introitus, Kyrie, Graduale, Offertorium, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Communio. These musical movements, which are more contrapuntal with their interweaving voices than the introductory motet, function as a plea to God to take care of the deceased.
Thirdly, the extraliturgical motet Versa est in luctum is sung, in which Victoria allows himself the most powerful expression of grief. ‘My harp has been turned into mourning, and my organ has been turned into a voice of weeping’, the choir sings. At the height of despair, the highest voices soar over the rest of the singers with their cry of anguish, singing: ‘Spare me, my Lord, for my days are nothing’. It is perhaps the most dramatic and touching moment of the whole composition. Fourthly and finally, the service ends with the Absolution, in which God is asked to have mercy upon the deceased. It begins with Victoria’s setting of the responsory Libera me, which alternates between lush polyphony and solemn chants. Then it ends with a simple Kyrie, one last time begging the Lord for mercy. When listening to the mass, try to read along with the text below.
Text and Translation
1. Lectio secunda ad matunitam
Taedet animam meam vitae meae,
dimittam adversum me eloquium meum,
loquar in amaritudine animae meae.
Dicam Deo: Noli me condemnare:
indica mihi, cur me ita iudices.
Numquid bonum tibi videtur,
si calumnieris, el opprimas me,
opus manuum tuarum,
et consilium impiorum adiuves?
Numquid oculi carnei tibi sunt:
aut sicut videt homo, et tu vides?
Numquid sicut dies hominis dies tui,
et anni tui sicut humana sunt tempora,
ut quaeras iniquitatem meam,
et peccatum meum scruteris?
Et scias, quia nihil impium fecerim,
cum sit nemo, qui de manu tua possit eruere.
My soul is weary of my life;
I will release my words against myself,
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God: Do not be willing to condemn me:
reveal to me why you judge me this way.
Does it seem good to you,
if you find fault with me and oppress me,
the work of your own hands,
and assist the counsel of the impious?
Do you have bodily eyes,
just as man sees, will you see?
Are your days just like the days of man,
and are your years as the times of humans,
so that you would inquire about my iniquity,
and examine my sin?
And you know that I have done nothing impious,
yet there is no one who can deliver me from your hand.
2. Introitus
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus Deus in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in lerusalem:
exaudi orationem meam.
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord:
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
A hymn, O God, becomes thee in Zion,
and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem:
hear my prayer,
all flesh shall come before thee.
3. Kyrie
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
4. Graduale
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
In memoria aeterna erit iustus:
ab auditione mala non timebit.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord:
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
The just man shall be remembered for ever:
He shall not fear harsh judgement.
5. Offertorium
Domine lesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum
de poenis inferni, et de profundo lacu.
Libera eas de ore leonis,
ne absorbeat eas tartarus,
ne cadant in obscurum:
sed signifer Sanctus Michael
repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam:
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius.
Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,
laudis offerimus:
tu suscipe pro animabus illis,
quarum hodie memoriam facimus:
fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam,
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius.
O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
deliver the souls of all the faithful departed
from the power of hell and the bottomless pit:
deliver them from the jaws of the lion,
lest hell engulf them,
lest they be plunged into darkness:
but let the holy standard-bearer Michael
lead them into the holy light.
As once thou promised to Abraham and to his seed.
Lord, in praise, we offer thee
sacrifices and prayers:
accept them on behalf of those,
whom we remember this day:
Lord, make them pass from death to life.
As once thou promised to Abraham, and to his seed.
6. Sanctus & Benedictus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth,
pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.
Osanna in exceisis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Osanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
7. Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Lamb of God, thou that takest away
the sins of the world, grant them rest.
Lamb of God, thou that takest away
the sins of the world, grant them rest.
Lamb of God, thou that takest away
the sins of the world, grant them rest.
8. Communio
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine.
cum sanctis tuis, in aeternum:
quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis
cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,
quia pius es.
Requiescant in pace.
Amen.
Let light eternal shine on them, O Lord,
with thy saints forever,
for thou art merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord:
and let perpetual light shine on them.
With thy saints forever:
for thou art merciful.
May they rest in peace.
Amen.
9. Motectum
Versa est in luctum cithara mea,
et organum meum in vocem flentium.
Pace mihi, Domine,
nihil enim sunt dies mei.
My harp has been turned into mourning,
and my organ has been turned into a voice of weeping.
Spare me, Lord,
for my days are nothing.
10. Absolutio
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna,
in die illa tremenda:
Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra
dum veneris iudicare saeculum per ignem.
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo,
dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.
Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra.
Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae,
dies magna et amara valde:
Dum veneris iudicare saeculum per ignem.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death,
on that fearful day,
when the heavens and the earth shall be moved:
when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
I tremble, and I fear,
till the judgement be upon us, and the coming wrath,
when the heavens and the earth shall be moved.
That day, day of wrath, calamity, and misery,
day of great and exceeding bitterness.
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord:
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Lord , have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Further Reading
Sadly, many people have never heard the wonderful music of Victoria or his contemporaries. Renaissance music, and especially choral and religious music, is too often neglected in favour of the more melodic music of the Baroque and the Romantic Period, as stated by Greg Skidmore.
“Despite the efforts and protestations of many performers, it is often appreciated through the lens (…) of the ‘academic exercise’. A barrier exists – in different places for different people – between ‘early music’ and ‘not early music’ which affects our relationship with what we hear, how we engage with it emotionally, how we believe we are expected to evaluate its performance, and even the extent to which we allow it to excite and overwhelm us.”
Therefore, I hope that this article might serve as an introduction to the wonderful works of the Renaissance Period. While you might have to put some effort into it to appreciate it, there is a whole world to be discovered. If you would like to get more acquainted with polyphonic music in general, I can wholeheartedly recommend the wonderful video essay below by Lukas Henning.
