ORLANDUS LASSUS
Magnificat octavi toni
My soul does magnify the Lord
And my spirit hath rejoiced
In God my saviour.
For he hath regarded the low
estate of his handmaiden:
For, behold, from henceforth
all generations
Shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath
done to me great things,
And holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them
that fear him,
From generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with his arm,
He hath scattered the proud
in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the
mighty from their seats
And exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry
with good things,
And the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen his servant Israel,
In remembrance of his mercy,
As he spake to our fathers,
To Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
Glory be to the Father, the
Son and the Holy Ghost,
For thus it was, is now
And shall be evermore.
Amen.
Ad Dominum
In my distress I cried unto the Lord
And he heard me.
Deliver my soul, O Lord,
From lying lips, and from a
deceitful tongue.
What shall be given unto thee?
Or what shall be done unto
thee, thou false tongue?
Sharp arrows of the mighty,
With coals of juniper.
Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech,
That I dwell in the tents of Kedar.
My soul hath long dwelt
with him that hateth peace;
I am for peace;
But when I speak,
They are for war.
Omnium deliciarum
All delights and vanity of the world
Will soon come to an end.
Death, sorrow, mourning and fear
Invade all.
Canzon, la doglia e ‘l pianto
Song, singing so well of sorrow and pain,
Comforting to Those in distress,
Tell me that a troubled heart is refined
By patience: that ultimate and divine virtue.
No giorno t’haggio havere
One day I will hold you in
my hands
Without losing my grasp.
Try and flee, but you cannot
escape me.
If not the thirtieth time, it
may well be the thirty-first,
I will have you, in spite of
everyone.
La nuict froide et sombre
The cold and sombre night,
covering earth and heaven
With dark shadows,
Makes sleep descend,
From heaven,
Sweet as honey.
The following day,
Calling us to labour,
Unfolds its brightness
And with diverse shades
This grand universe
Is draped and adorned.
Il estoit une religïeuse
There once was a nun,
Of the order or Hail Mary,
Who was so enamoured of a Father
That she united her gracious body with his.
The abbess asked what was happening,
And one and the other answered:
Our Father and the Hail Mary
Are laced together in a Paternoster.
Timor et tremor
Fear and trembling came upon me
And darkness came over me.
Have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy,
For my spirit confides in you.
Hear my prayer, God,
For you are my refuge
And my strong assistant.
Lord, I called you: do not shame me.
In hora ultima
In the last hour all will perish:
Trumpet, flute and harp,
Games, laughter, dance,
Song and discant.
Deus, qui sedes
God, seated on your throne
And judging in fairness,
Be the refuge of the poor in their distress,
For you alone consider pain and sorrow.
Il grave de l’età
The burden of years, with its
Grief, tedium, pallor,
darkness and cold,
Falls heavily over me and I freeze
When I think how frail and
tired I am already,
In this battle, I fail day after day.
In vain I look for peace or respite,
I cannot escape, for every hour I feel
How time runs more and
more against me.
My soul, you who disdains
the fury of the years
And expects a better life after death,
If you want to flee from the
deceit of the senses,
Focus all your affections on God,
So that your mortal desires
come to an end
And your solace lasts forever.
Passan vostri triomphi
Your triumphal chariots and
floats come and go,
As do Lords and as do reigns;
All mortal causes are halted by death;
What was taken from the poor,
is not handed to the more deserving:
Time not only dissolves your body,
But also your eloquence, your intelligence.
Thus time, in its flight, carries
the whole world,
Knows no rest, stops not, returns not,
And finally you are no more than dust.
ORLA NDUS LASSUS
O vin en vigne
O wine in the vineyard,
lovely sweet wine in the vineyard,
Viney, viney, vine on vine,
Hey you lovely sweet wine in the vineyard!
O wine in a bunch, lovely
sweet wine in a bunch of grapes,
Bunchy, bunchy, bunch on bunch,
Hey you lovely sweet wine in a bunch!
IVO DE VENTO
Der Wein der schmeckt
I love the taste of wine,
Summer and winter I drink my full.
This does not please my wife,
And makes her rather sad,
But I cannot help it:
Cheers, cheers, cheers:
It must be drunk,
Be it beer or wine.
Thus I spend what I have
And when I have squandered it all,
I drink water instead.
JOHANNES DE FOSSA
Vidi aquam
I saw water flowing from the temple,
On his right-hand side,
alleluia,
And all those whom this water reached
Were saved and they sing
alleluia.
Praise the Lord, for he is good,
For his mercy lasts in eternity.
For thus it was, is now,
Hola, Caron
“Hey ho, Charon, infernal boatman!”
“Who is this importunate
visitor who calls me so urgently?”
“It is the mourning spirit of a faithful lover
Who, through loving so well, only knew misfortune.”
“What do you want from me?” –
“The fatal crossing.”
“Who caused your death?”
“O cruel question! Love has killed me.”
“Never do I ferry
Anyone across who has died of love.”
“Please, I beg you, Charon,
take me in your boat!”
“Find another ferryman, for
neither I nor Fate
ever undertake anything
against the master of the gods.”
“I will go then, despite you, for I have
So many arrows in my soul
and tears in my eyes
That I can make the stream,
and the boat and the oars.”
BALDWINUS HOYOUL
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir
From deep distress I call you,
Lord, please answer my call.
Please lend me your merciful ear,
Listen to my prayer;
For when you are willing to see
How many sins are committed,
how much injustice abounds,
Who then, Lord, could stand before you?
Veni, Sancte Spiritus
Come, Holy Spirit,
Fill the heart of your faithful
And ignite the fire of love
inside them:
You who has, above the
diversity of tongues,
congregated all peoples in
the unity of faith.
Alleluia.
Respicit Dominus
For the ways of man are
before the eyes of the Lord,
And he pondereth all his goings.
His own iniquities shall take
the wicked himself,
And he shall be holden with
the cords of his sin.
He shall die without instruction,
And in the greatness of his
folly he shall go astray.
landarenca