''O vos omnes'' is a
responsory
A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies.
Definition
The most general definition of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group si ...
, originally sung as part of
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
liturgies
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
for
Holy Week
Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...
, and now often sung as a
motet. The text is adapted from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
translation of
Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillo ...
1:12. It was often set, especially in the sixteenth century, as part of the
Tenebrae
Tenebrae (—Latin for "darkness") is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total ...
Responsories for Holy Saturday. Some of the most famous settings of the text are by:
*
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Ren ...
(two settings for four voices: 1572 and 1585)
*
Carlo Gesualdo (five voices: 1603;
six voices: 1611)
*
Pablo Casals (mixed choir: 1932)
Text
O vos ómnes qui transítis per víam, atténdite et vidéte:
: Si est dólor símilis sícut dólor méus.
V. Atténdite, univérsi pópuli, et vidéte dolórem méum.
: Si est dólor símilis sícut dólor méus.
Translation
O all you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see:
: if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
V. Pay attention, all people, and look at my sorrow:
: if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
See also
*
Juan Esquivel Barahona
References
O vos omnes
Motets
Tenebrae