- Date: before 1505
- Composer: Pierre de la Rue
- Period: Renaissance (1450-1599)
Review
A sophisticated and hybrid genre of musical composition grew in French-speaking lands during the early Renaissance, the motet-chanson. Nascent humanism in music apparently took delight in the juxtaposition of sacred and profane in this genre; whether the intent is devotional or (more often) funereal, the interplay of multiple texts (and mutiple languages) yields a rich level of internal symbolism and interplay. Dufay had experimented with combining chanson texts of different "levels," contrasting refined courtly sentiments with more earthy lyrics in the same piece. Johannes Ockeghem, in his déploration for Binchois (Mort, tu as navré), placed a French lament chanson over a low vocal trio, one of whom sings a Latin melody from the Requiem Mass. Josquin used a similarly hybrid concoction in turn for Ockeghem, quoting the Requiem aeternam itself. The only motet-chanson attributed to Pierre de la Rue seems also to evoke the spirit of Ockeghem, perhaps also in mourning for his passing.The French text of the upper two voices speaks of one whose misfortune commands him to cry and wail; the tenor and bass beneath both paraphrase the plainchant Introit of the Mass for the Dead, Requiem aeternam. They begin this potently symbolic chant in strict imitation, though not in a canonic relationship. Neither paraphrases exactly, furthermore; the bass voice even distorts the chant by a number of prominent E flats. Close to the "Golden Mean," the mensuration changes to a triple meter, and all four voices are given an incomplete continuation of the French text. The ethos of mourning remains, cloaked in a sudden passage for a very low vocal trio, in a continually strong presence of the pitch E flat, and in prominent use of "coloration": notes all black in color. The incomplete French text in this section mentions death, but maddeningly without reference to a specific occasion. ~ Timothy Dickey, All Music Guide
Albums with Complete Performances of the Work
| Title | Date |
| Pierre de la Rue: Missa Cum iocunditate | 1997 |
