‘Per mia particolare devotione’: Orlando di Lasso's Lagrime di San Pietro and Catholic Spirituality in Counter-Reformation Munich

Abstract

In his magisterial Lagrime di San Pietro (1595) Orlando di Lasso composed a cycle of 20 madrigals on texts by Luigi Tansillo on the theme of St Peter's denial of Christ and his subsequent remorse, capped by a Latin motet (‘Vide homo’) representing the rebuke of the crucified Christ. The Lagrime may be seen as a penitential gesture on Lasso's part, but a textual and musical analysis also suggests numerous parallels with contemporary Catholic spiritual exercises, particularly those of Ignatius of Loyola and Luis of Granada. The cycle thus takes its place in a broader Counter-Reformation discourse of meditation and penance.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexander J. Fisher

Alexander J. Fisher ([email protected]) is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His research focuses on questions of music, ritual and religious identity in Central Europe during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Among his writings in this field is the recent book Music and Religious Identity in Counter-Reformation Augsburg, 1580—1630 (Aldershot, 2004).