# A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Lassus, Orlando di

From volume 2 of the work.
​LASSUS, Orlando di, born at Mons in the first half of the 16th century. His real name was probably Delattre, but the form de Lassus seema to have been constantly used in Mons at the time, and was not his own invention. He had no fixed mode of writing his name, and in the prefaces to the first four volumes of the 'Patrocinium Musices,' signs himself differently each time, Orlandus de Lasso, Orlandus di Lasso, Orlandus di Lassus, and Orlandus Lassus; and again in the 'Lectiones Hiob,' 1582, Orlando de Lasso. In the French editions we usually find the name Orlande de Lassus, and so it appears on the statue in his native town. Adrian Le Roy, however, in some of the Paris editions, by way perhaps of Latinizing the de, calls him Orlandus Lassusius.
The two works usually referred to for his early life are Vinchant's 'Annals ofHainault'; and a notice by Van Quickelberg in 1565, in the 'Heroum Prosopographia,' a biographical dictionary compiled by Pantaleon. Vinchant, under the year 1520, writes as follows:—
'Orland dit Lassus was born in the town of Mons, in the same year that Charles V was proclaimed Emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle [1520].… He was born in the Rue de Guirlande near the passage leading from the Black Head. He was chorister in the church of S. Nicolas in the Rue de Havrecq. After his father was condemned for coining false money etc. the said Orland, who was called Roland de Lattre, changed his name to Orland de Lassus, left the country, and went to Italy with Ferdinand de Gonzague.'
Van Quickelberg dates his birth ten years later:—
'Orlandus was born at Mons in Hainault in the year 1530. At 7 years old he began his education, and a year and a half later took to music, which he soon understood. The beauty of his voice attracted so much attention, that he was thrice stolen from the school where he lived with the other choristers. Twice his good parents sought and found him, but the third time he consented to remain with Ferdinand Gonzague viceroy of Sicily, at that time commander of the emperor's forces at St. Dizier. The war over, he went with that prince first to Sicily, and then to Milan. After 6 years his voice broke, and at the age of 18 Constantin Castriotto took him to Naples, where he lived for 3 years with the Marquis of Terza. Thence to Rome, where he was the guest of the archbishop of Florence for 6 mouths, at the end of which time he was appointed director of the choir in the church of S. Giovanni in Laterano, by far the most celebrated in Rome.… Two years afterwards he visited England and France with Julius Cæsar Brancaccio, a nobleman and an amateur musician. Returning to his native land, he resided in Antwerp for two years, whence he was called to Munich by Albert of Bavaria in 1557.
It is difficult to decide between the two birthdates 1520 and 1530. Baini places the Roman appointment in 1541, Van Quickelberg in 1551. That Lassus left Rome about 1553, as Van Quickelberg says, is also to be inferred from the preface to his first Antwerp publication (May 13, 1555), where he speaks of his removal from the one city to the other as if recent. Assuming that his life in Rome lasted either 2 years or 12, we may ask whether it is likely that one of the most industrious and prolific composers in the whole history of music, should obtain so high a position as early as 1541, without being known to us as a composer till1555; or is it, on the contrary, more likely that a reputation which seems to have been European by the time he went to Munich (1557), could have been gained, without some early and long career as a composer of works which may yet be lying undiscovered in some Italian church or library.
Vinchant alludes to Lassus' father having been condemned as a coiner of false money. Matthieu has worked hard to refute this, and his examination of the criminal records of Mons casts great improbability on the story. At the same time, and from the same sources, he has brought to light other namesakes of the composer, who if ​they belonged to his family, did little credit to it, and need not be mentioned here. It would be more interesting to find some tie between Orlando and two other contemporary composers, Olivier Delatre, and Claude Petit Jean Delattre, the second a man of considerable eminence.
Of Lassus' education, after he left Mons, we know nothing, but his first compositions show him following the steps of his countrymen, Willaert, Verdelot, Arcadelt, and Rore, in the Venetian school of madrigal writing; his first book of madrigals (à 5) being published in Venice soon after he had himself left Italy and settled in Antwerp. This book in its time went through many editions, but copies of it are scarce now, and none of its 22 pieces have been published in modern notation.
The visit to England must have taken place about 1554. We have been unable to find any account of the nobleman whom Orlando accompanied, but many of his family had been dignitaries of the church of Rome, and by him Orlando was probably introduced to Cardinal Pole, in whose honour he wrote music to the words
'Te spectant Reginalde poll, tibi sidera rident, Exultant montes, personal Oceanus, Anglia dum plaudit quod faustos excutis ignes Elicis et lachrimas ex adamante suo.'
This was published in 1556, and the incidents to which it refers could not have taken place before 1554, so it gives an additional clue to the time of the composer's visit to this country, corroborating the statement of Van Quickelberg. It is curious that in the year 1554, a Don Pedro di Lasso attended the marriage of Philip and Mary in England as ambassador from Ferdinand, King of the Romans.
By the end of 1554, Orlando is probably settled at Antwerp, for in 'the Italian preface to a book of madrigals and motets printed in that city (May 13, 1555),' he speaks of their having been composed there since his return from Rome. 'There,' says Van Quickelberg, 'he remained two years, in the society of men of rank and culture, rousing in them a taste for music, and in return gaining their love and respect.' The book referred to contains 18 Italian canzones, 6 French chansons, and 6 motets 'à la nouvelle composition d'aucuns d'Italie.' Of the Italian ones 5 are published by Van Maldeghem. This is our first introduction to the great composer, and we get over it with little formality. If Orlando ever wrote any masses for his composer's diploma; if the old tune 'l'omme armé,' was tortured by any fresh contrapuntal devices of his pen, it is plain that he left such tasks behind him when he gave up school, and 'roused the musical taste' of his Antwerp friends by music which errs, if at all, on the side of simplicity. We pass with regret from the graceful 'Madonna ma pietà' and the almost melodious 'La cortesia,' to the Latin motets—3 sacred, 2 secular—in the same volume. One of the latter is the 'Alma nemes' which Burney gives in his History (iii. 317), pointing out the modulation on the words 'novumque melos,' as a striking example of the chromatic passages of the school in which Lassus and Rore were educated. Burney couples the two together, and regards Lassus chiefly as a secular composer. He seems to know but little of the great sacred works of his later life, and likens him to a 'dwarf upon stilts' by the side of Palestrina. But though this unfortunate comparison has brought the great English historian into disgrace with Fétis and Ambros, still Burney's remarks on Lassus' early works are very interesting and certainly not unfair. It is only strange that, knowing and thinking so little of Lassus, he should have compared him to Palestrina at all.
The other work belonging to this period (Antwerp 1556) is the first book of motets—12 nos. à 5, and 5 nos. à 6. Here the composer recognises the importance of his first publication of serious music, by opening it with an ode to the Muses, 'Delitiæ Phoebi,' à 5, in which the setting of the words 'Sustine Lassum,' is the principal feature. Other interesting numbers are the 'Gustate, videte,' which will be referred to again when we follow Lassus to Munich, the motet 'Te spectant Reginalde poli,' and 'Heroum soboles, in honour of Charles V, the second being in the strict imitative style, the last in simpler and more massive harmony (à 6), as if designed for a large chorus at some public ceremonial.
The sacred numbers, such as the 'Mirabile mysterium'—an anthem, we suppose for Christmas day—show no signs of any secular tendency or Venetian influence. They are as hard to our ears as any music of the Josquin period. They give us our first insight into Orlando's church work, and it is interesting to find him drawing so distinct a line between compositions for the church and the world, and not, as Burney implies, too much petted in society and at court, to be grave and earnest in his religious music. We have a good example here that the contrary is the case. The Muses and Cardinal Pole are much too serious subjects to be in the slightest degree trifled with, and the Ode to Charles V. alone exhibits any originality of treatment.
On the strength of a reputation as a composer both for the chamber and the church, and of a popularity amongst men of rank and talent, gained as much by his character and disposition and liberal education, as by his musical powers, he was invited by Albert V., Duke of Bavaria, in 1556 or 1557, to come to Munich as director of his chamber music. Albert was not only the kind patron of Lassus, but seems to have exercised considerable influence on the direction of his genius. He was born in 1527, was a great patron of the arts, founded the royal library at Munich, acquired considerable fame as an athlete, and was a man of the strictest religious principles, the effect of which was not confined to his family, but extended to his people by severe laws against immorality of every kind. Of the exact state of music at Munich when Lassus first reached it, we cannot speak precisely. The head of the chapel, Ludovico d'Asero, or Ludwig ​Daser, was a distinguished composer in his time, but a single 'Fuga' is all that has been left to us. Being an old man, he would probably have retired in favour of Lassus, as he did a few years later, but it was thought better for the new comer to acquire the language of the country before undertaking so responsible a post, and he was therefore appointed a chamber musician. He seems to have settled at once into his new position, for the next year (1558) he married Regina Weckinger, a maid of honour at the court. The marriage proved a very happy one, and Van Quickelberg speaks of the children, whom he must have known at a very early age (1565), as 'elegantissimi.' At any rate they did very well afterwards. The four sons, Ferdinand, Ernest, Rudolph and Jean, all became musicians, and the two daughters were married—one of them, Regina, to the Seigneur d'Ach, one of the court painters.
In his subordinate position Lassus did not publish much, though, as the next paragraph shows, he wrote continually. The next two or three years produced a second book of 21 madrigals (á 5), and a book of chansons (á 4, 5, 6), the latter containing the 5-part chanson 'Susanne un jour,' to which Burney refers in his History (iii. 262), as well as a 6-part setting of the 'Tityre, tu patulæ,' which is quite simple in effect, and has a very beautiful last movement. We observe at once the great care which Orlando takes of the quantities of the Latin words.
In the year 1562 Daser is allowed to retire on his full salary, and
'The Duke seeing that Master Orlando had by this time learnt the language, and gained the good will and love of all, by the propriety and gentleness of his behaviour, and that his compositions (in number infinite) were universally liked, without loss of time elected him master of the chapel, to the evident pleasure of all. And, indeed, with all his distinguished colleagues, he lived so quietly and peacefully, that all were forced to love him, to respect him in his presence, and to praise him in his absence.'
From this time Lassus appears principally as a composer for the church, and it is worth remarking that in this same year the subject of music was discussed by the Council of Trent, and a resolution passed to reform some of the glaring defects in the style of church composition. Lassus' great works, being of a subsequent date, are as entirely free from the vagaries of his predecessors as are the later works of Palestrina. [See Josquin.]
The new chapel-master, in the June of the same year, prints his first book of entirely sacred music—'Sacræ cantiones, á 5' (25 nos.), of which 'Veni in hortum' has been published byCommer, 'Angelus ad pastores' byRochlitz, and 'Benedicam Dominum' byProske.
But it was not alone as a church composer that Lassus was anxious at once to assert his new position. He soon showed special qualifications as conductor of the choir. 'One great quality,' says Massimo Trojano, 'was the firmness and genius he evinced when the choir were singing, giving the time with such steadiness and force, that, like warriors taking courage at the sound of the trumpet, the expert singers needed no other orders than the expression of that powerful and vigorous countenance to animate their sweetly -sounding voices.' The portrait which we here give, and which is now engraved for the first time, has been photographed from the magnificent manuscript copy of Lassus's music to the Penitential Psalms, which forms one of the ornaments of the Royal State Library at Munich. The inscription round the outside of the oval is 'Incorde prudentis requiescit sapientia et indoctos quosque erudiet. Pro. xiiii.,' showing in how favourable and honourable a light a great musician was regarded in the 16th century.
In the autumn Lassus must have gone to Venice, taking his new 'Cantiones' with him; for though Gardane does not print them till 1565, the preface to his edition is signed by the composer, and dated 'Venetiis 1562 die 1. Nov.' He also left behind him a third set of 13 madrigals, published there in the following year. Van Quickelberg also speaks of a visit to Antwerp about this time; and the publications for the year 1564—two books of chansons, one printed in that city, the other at Louvain—corroborate ​the statement. The 1st book (à 4) contains 27 short pieces of a humorous character, many of which are given by Van Maldeghem in his 'Trésor Musical.' The music is admirably adapted to the words, notwithstanding the fact that in later times it was considered equally well suited to sacred words, or at least published with them, an ordeal to which many of his earlier secular compositions were subjected. The reason and result of these journeys are thus given by Massimo Trojano:—
'The Duke seeing that his predecessor's chapel was far beneath his own ideal, sent messages and letters, with gifts and promises through all Europe, to select learned musical artists, and singers with fine voices and experience. And it came to pass in a short time, that he had collected as great a company of virtuosi as he could possibly obtain, chosen from all the musicians in Germany and other countries by his composer, the excellent Orlando di Lasso.'
Of these musicians, upwards of 90 in number, the same author mentions more than 30 by name. Among them Antonio Morari, the head of the orchestra, Gioseppe da Lucca and Ivo da Vento, organists, Francesco da Lucca and Simone Gallo, both instrumentalists, Giovanne da Lochenburg, a great favourite and companion of the Duke's, and Antonio Gosuino, were all composers, some of whose works still exist. The singing of the choir was of the highest order, balanced with the greatest nicety, and able to keep in tune through the longest compositions. The Duke treated them so kindly, and their life was made so pleasant, that, as Massimo Trojano says, 'had the heavenly choir been suddenly dismissed, they would straightway have made for the court of Munich, there to find peace and retirement.'
For general purposes the wind and brass instruments seem to have been kept separate from the strings. The former accompanied the mass on Sundays and festivals. In the chamber music all took part in turn. At a banquet, the wind instruments would play during the earlier courses, then till dinner was finished the strings, with Antonio Morari as their conductor, and at dessert Orlando would direct the choir, sometimes singing quartets and trios with picked voices, a kind of music of which the Duke was so fond, that he would leave the table to listen more attentively to 'the much-loved strains.' He and all his family were intensely fond of music, and made a point of attending the musical mass every day. They took a keen interest in Lassus' work, and the Duke and his son William were continually sending him materials and suggestions for new compositions. The manuscript of the music to the 'Penitential Psalms,' already noticed, remains to this day a witness of the reverence with which the Duke treated the composer's work.
These 7 psalms were composed, at the Duke's suggestion, before the year 1565, the date of the first volume of the MS., but were not published till some years after. The music is in 5 parts, one, and sometimes two separate movements for each verse. The last movement, 'Sicut erat,' always in 6 parts. Duets, Trios, and Quartets appear for various combinations of voices. The length of the Psalms is considerable, and though no reliance can be placed on modern ideas of their tempi, the longer ones would probably occupy nearly an hour in performance.
'When we think,' says Ambros, 'of the principal works of the i6th century, these Psalms and Palestrina's Missa Papæ Marcelli always come first to ourminds.' One reason for this is, perhaps, that these works have each a little story attached to them which has made them easy to remember and talk about. It is not true that Lassus composed the 'Penitential Psalms' to soothe the remorse of Charles IX, after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, but it is more than probable, that they were sung before that unhappy monarch, and his musical sense must indeed have been dull, if he found no consolation and hope expressed in them. This is no everyday music, which may charm at all seasons or in all moods; but there are times when we find ourselves forgetting the antique forms of expression, passing the strange combinations of sounds, almost losing ourselves, in a new-found grave delight, till the last few movements of the Psalm—always of a more vigorous character—gradually recall us as from a beautiful dream which 'waking we can scarce remember.' Is this indefinite impression created by the music due to our imperfect appreciation of a style and composition so remote, or is it caused by the actual nature of the music itself, which thus proves its inherent fitness for the service of religion? So unobtrusive is its character, that we can fancy the worshippers hearing it by the hour, passive rather than active listeners, with no thought of the human mind that fashioned its form. Yet the art is there, for there is no monotony in the sequence of the movements. Every variety that can be naturally obtained by changes of key, contrasted effects of repose and activity, or distribution of voices, are here; but these changes are so quietly and naturally introduced, and the startling contrasts, now called 'dramatic,' so entirely avoided, that the composer's part seems only to have been, to deliver faithfully a divine message, without attracting notice to himself.
The production of such a masterpiece at an early date in his Munich life, seems to point clearly, through all the contested dates of birth, positions or appointments, to some earlier career of the composer. To obtain a style at once great and solemn, natural and easy, it seems almost indispensable that Lassus had occupied for several years the post to which Baini says he was first appointed in 1541, had spent these years in writing the great cumbrous works which had been the fashion of his predecessors, and then, like Palestrina—whom, if he really lived at Rome all this time, he must have known—gradually acquired the less artificial style, by which his later works are characterised.
In the years 1565–66 Lassus adds 3 more volumes of 'Sacræ Cantiones' (several numbers ​of which are scored by Commer), and the first set of 'Sacræ lectiones, 9 ex prophetâ Job.' The first editions of these all hail from Venice, perhaps because Jean de Berg of Nuremberg, who had published the 1st volume, had died in the meanwhile. His successor Gerlach, however, publishes an edition of them in 1567, as well as a collection of 24 Magnificats. In the latter the alternate verses only are composed—a contrapuntal treatment of the appointed church melodies—the other verses being probably sung or intoned to the same melodies in their simple form.
The year 1568 is full of interest. In February the Duke William marries the Princess Renata of Lorraine; there is a large gathering of distinguished guests at Munich, and music has a prominent place in the fortnight's festivities. Among the works composed specially for the occasion was a 'Te Deum' (à 6), and three masses (à 6, 7, and 8 respectively), also two motets 'Gratia sola Dei' and 'Quid trepidas, quid musa times?' But here we must stop, for though it has a real interest to read how 'their Highnesses and Excellencies and the Duchess Anna attended by Madame Dorothea returned home greatly pleased with the sweet and delightful mass they had heard,' and to follow all the occurrences of 14 consecutive days of Orlando's life, still we must refer the curious reader to the pages of Massimo Trojano, and can only stop to mention that, towards the end of the time, he was the life and soul of an impromptu play suggested by the Duke, in which he not only acted one of the principal parts, but introduced various pieces of music on the stage with the aid of a band of picked singers.
In the same year we have two most important publications: (1) 'Selectissimæ Cantiones à 6 et pluribus' and (2) the same à 5 et 4. The first book opens with a massive work in 4 movements, 'Jesu nostra redemptio,' in the grand gloomy style of the old masters, followed by shorter and simpler pieces, such as the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, with a melodious prelude on the words 'In monte Oliveti oravit ad patrem,' followed by a simple strain of devotional music carrying the hearer quietly and expressively, but not dramatically, through the Saviour's agony and resignation. The volume is not confined to religious music. There are some pieces with secular words, such as an ode to Albert 'Quo properas facunde nepos Atlantis,' but there are also some capital drinking songs, and the 'Jam lucis orto sidere,' with its 2nd part 'Qui ponit aquam in Falerno,' is a fine specimen of a part-song for two choirs singing alternately, a kind of music much in vogue at the time, the introduction of which is said to be due to Adrian Willaert.
The other volume is confined to music à 5 and à 4, and is proportionately simple. Commer has printed 8 or 9 of the sacred numbers in score, and they are not difficult either to understand or to appreciate. Among the secular pieces there is a comic setting of the psalm 'Super fluinina Babylonis,' each letter and syllable being aung separately as in a spelling lesson:—
at which rate it takes two long movements to get through the first verse. This might well be a parody on the absurd way in which the older masters mutilated their words. But there are beautiful as well as curious numbers among the secular part-songs in this book, and the 'Forte soporifera ad Baias dormivit in umbra, blandua Amor etc.' is one of the quaintest and prettiest songs that we have come across in the old music world. In this book is also a very characteristic, though rather complicated and vocally difficult setting of the well-known song of Walter Mapes—ifWalter Mapes' it be—'Si bene perpendi, causæ sunt quinque bibendi.' Dean Aldrich may have taken the words from this very book (for he had a library of Lassus' works) when he made his well-known translation:
'If all be true that I do think, There are five reasons we should drink: Good wine, a friend, or being dry, Or lest you should be by and by, Or any other reason why.'
In a subsequent edition of the same 'Cantiones' appears another portion of the same work, 'Fertur in conviviis,' à 4, in five movements set to music full of character and effective contrasts. The music was so much liked that other words were twice set to it, once in a French edition which aimed at rendering the chansons 'honnestes et chrestiennes' to the words 'Tristis ut Euridicen Orpheus ab orco'—though how the adapter succeeded in his object by the change is not very apparent; and again a second time after his death in the edition of his works by his son, to the stupid words 'Volo nunquam,' which aimed at turning it into a temperance song by the insertion of a negative in each sentiment of the original. The old edition has fortunately survived, and the words of the last two verses, beginning 'Mihi est propositum,' are still used for their original purpose. These spirited words, of which Orlando was evidently so fond, and to the quantities of which he paid such careful regard, seem to have inspired him with a marked rhythm and sense of accent, which is very exceptional in works of the time.
In the year 1569, Adam Berg, the court publisher at Munich, brings out 'Cantiones aliquot à 5,' containing 14 numbers, and 2 books of 'Sacræ Cantiones,' partly new, are issued at Louvain. The year 1570 is more productive, 23 new Cantiones à 6; a books of chansons containing 18 new ones; and a book of 29 madrigals, published in Munich, Louvain and Venice respectively; while France is represented by an important edition of chansons—'Mellange ​d'Orlande de Lassus'—often quoted but containing little new matter. At the close of the year, at the diet of Spires, the Emperor grants letters of nobility to Lassus. At the time this honour was conferred upon him, Lassus was probably on his way to the court of France, where we find him during the greater part of the year 1571. Some circumstances of his stay there may be gathered from the 'Primus liber modulorum á 5,' published by Adrian Le Roy, in whose house he lodged during the visit (Paris, August 1571). The publisher's dedication to Charles IX. states that—
'When Orlando di Lassus lately entered your presence, to kiss your hand, and modestly and deferentially greet your majesty, I saw, plainly as eyes can see, the honour you were conferring on music and musicians. For to say nothing of the right royal gifts which you have bestowed on Orlando—the look, the countenance, the words with which you greeted him on his arrival (and this I was not the only one to notice) were such, that he may truly boast of your having shown to few strangers presented to you this year, the same honour, courtesy and kindness you showed him. And even I, Adrian, your subject and royal printer, did not fail to share with him some of that courtesy and consideration on your part. For inasmuch as I accompanied him into your presence, (because he was my guest,) You, seeing me constantly by his side all the time we were in your court, asked me more than once about music,' etc., etc.
Ronsard, the French poet, also speaks of the special welcome with which the King received the composer. Delmotte suggests that the visit to Paris may have had to do with a new Academy of music, for the erection of which Charles had issued letters-patent in November 1570. Several editions of Orlando's former works were issued at Paris during his stay there with Le Roy, but the only new work of the year he does not design for his newly made French friends. He sends it home to his kind master Duke Albert, and thus addresses him (May 1871 [App. p.697 "1571"]):—'When I reached Paris, the city which I had so long, and so ardently wished to see, I determined to do nothing, until I had first sent to you from this, the capital of France, some proof of my gratitude.'
This book was the 'Moduli quinis vocibus,' which however was written at Munich before his departure, and only published at Paris. His travels naturally interrupted his composition, and there is nothing ready to print in the next year (1572) but another set of 15 German songs.
Once again settled in Munich, Lassus is soon at work, Adam Berg is busy providing 'specially large and entirely new type,' the Dukes are full of grand ideas to bring honour on themselves, and make the most of their renowned Chapelmaster, and July 1573 sees the result in the issue of the 1st volume of the 'Patrociuium Musices.' [See Berg, Adam.] The work was undertaken on the responsibility of Duke William, and a portrait of that handsome prince, afterwards known as 'William the Pious,' appears as a frontispiece.
The originators of this publication appear to have intended to continue the series until it became a selection of all the best music necessary for the services of the church. Orlando, in the preface to the 1st volume, hints at the work being undertaken in emulation of the service lately rendered to the church by Philip of Spain in bringing out a newedition of the Scriptures, and speaks half apologetically of the 1st volume (which contains only motets), as if it scarcely came up to the object of the publication. The books might almost be called 'scores,' the separate parts appearing together on the two opposite pages. Few publications of this kind had as yet appeared. The music takes up a great deal more space than it would if printed in separate part-books, and on this account, as well as by reason of the magnificent type, the volumes hold less than many a smaller and less pretentious edition. The series stops short in 1576, and of the second series (1589–1590) Orlando contributes only the 1st volume. With the exception of the 'Vigiliæ Mortuorum' in the 4th volume—which had already appeared in 1565 under the title 'Lectiones ex propheta Job,'—and some of the Magnificats in vol. 5, all the contents of the volumes appear for the first time.
The 2nd volume is dedicated (Jan. 1, 1574) to Gregory XIII; and it is no doubt in return for this mark of respect that Orlando receives from the Pope on April 7 the knighthood of the Golden Spur. The 4th volume contains an interesting setting of the 'Passion' according to St. Matthew, in 41 very short movements, part of the narrative being recited by the priest, and the character parts sung as trios or duets.
In the year 1574 Lassus started on another journey to Paris. Whether the French King had invited him for a time to his court, or whether Lassus actually accepted a permanent position there, we do not know, but whatever the object of the journey, it was frustrated by the death of Charles (May 30), and Lassus hearing of this when he had reached Frankfort, returned at once to Munich.
The year 1576, besides finishing the 1st series of the 'Patrocinium Musices,' sees the publication of the 3rd part of the 'Teutsche lieder,' containing 22 nos., and the 'Thresor de musique,' a collection of 103 chansons, most of which had been printed in the Mellange (1570), but appear here with new words to satisfy the growing taste for psalm-singing in France. 1577 brings a small work of interest, a set of 24 cantiones (á 2), 12 being vocal duets, and the other 12 for instruments. The style of music is precisely the same in both cases, the absence of words in the latter 12 alone making any difference; and this proves, if there be any doubt on other grounds, that the notice frequent on title pages of this ​period, 'apt for viols and voyces,' did not mean that the voices and instruments were to perform them together, though this they undoubtedly did at times, but that the music of the chansons and motets formed the principal repertoire of the instrumentalists, and that they converted them into 'songs without words' with the concurrence of the composer. What other kinds of music the instrumentalists at Munich performed, it does not come within our province to discuss, since Lassus took no part in the direction of it. The duets having apparently found favour, Orlando goes on to publish a set of trios for voices or instruments, and as if this was a new and special idea, the first one is set to the words 'Hæc quæ ter triplici,' and the book dedicated to the three Dukes, William, Ferdinand and Ernest. The most important publication of the year is 'Missæ variis concentibus ornatæ,' a set of 18 masses, of which 13 are new, printed at Paris by Le Roy, in score.
During the years 1578–80 we know of no important publications. The illness of Duke Albert, and his death (Oct. 1579), are probably sufficient to account for this. He had done a last act of kindness to Lassus in the previous April by guaranteeing his salary (400 florins) for life. We like to think that the new set of 'Vigiliæ Mortuorum'—to the words of Job as before—were Lassus' tribute to the memory of his master. They were published a year or two after the Duke's death as having been recently composed. They are more beautiful than the earlier set, in proportion as they are simpler; and so simple are they, that in them human skill seems to have been thrust aside, as out of place for their purpose. Such music as this might Handel have had in his mind, when he wrote to the words 'Since by man came death.'
Passing on to the year 1581 we find a 'Liber Missarum,' printed by Gerlach, containing 4 new masses. Of these Commer has printed one on the tune 'La, la, Maistre Pierre.' To the same date belongs a 'Libro De Villanelle, Moresche, et altre Canzoni' (à 4, 5, 8), from Paris, containing 23 numbers.
There is much new music ready for 1582, and on the 1st of January Orlando dedicates a book to the bishop of Würtzburg, containing the 2nd set of 'Lectiones ex libris Hiob,' already referred to, and 11 newmotets. At the end of the book, and without connexion with its other contents, a short tuneful setting of the curious words
'Quid facies, facies Veneris cum veneris ante, Me sedeas sed eas, ne pereas per eas.'
Then again, on Feb. i, 'jampridem summâ, diligentiâ compositum,' 26 Sacræ cantiones à 5; of which however we only know the last; a beautiful setting of the hymn to John the Baptist, 'Ut queant laxis,' the tenor singing the ​notes of the scale with their names, and the other parts taking up the remaining words of each line, the music very interesting aa a specimen of an old treatment of the scale, though scarcely so old-fashioned as might be expected. The next month, March, brings a set of Motets (à 6), 'singulari authoris industriâ,' for voices or instruments. These books which follow so closely on each other are not collections of old work, but, as we learn from the title-pages, had all been recently composed. The last set exists also in modern notation in the Brussels library among many such scores, prepared by the 'singular industry' of another native of Mons, M. Fétis, who was appointed by the Belgian government to bring out a complete edition of his fellow-townsman's works, but was stopped by death from carrying out one more of the many great tasks he had accomplished and was intending to accomplish.
The successful adaptation of German words to some of Orlando's earlier French chansons leads him in the following year, 1583, to write 33 original ones to sacred and secular German words 'Neue teutsche Lieder, geistlich und weltlich'—short pieces of great beauty in 4-part counterpoint. Several of them have been printed by Commer. The most important publication of 1584 is the 'Penitential Psalms.' This is the work we have already spoken of under the year 1565.
A violent storm occurred at Munich on the Thursday of the Fête-Dieu in this year, and the Duke gave orders that the customary procession round the town from the church of St. Peter should be confined to the interior of the building. But no sooner had the head of the procession reached the porch of the church, and the choir was heard singing the first notes of Lassus' motet 'Gustate, videte,' than a sudden lull occurred in the storm, and the ceremony was performed as usual. This was looked upon as a miracle, and the people of Munich 'in their pious enthusiasm looked upon Lassus as a divine being.' Afterwards, whenever fine weather was an object, this motet was chosen. 1585 brings a new set of madrigals à 5, and a book containing besides motets the 'Hieremiæ prophetæ Lamentationes.' Besides these we have a volume of 'Cantica sacra' (24 nos.), and another of 'Sacræ cantiones' (32 nos.), both, according to the title-pages, recently composed. The first contains a setting of the 'Pater noster,' à 6, and an ode to Duke Ernest, Archbishop of Cologne, and the latter a 'Stabat mater' for two 4-part choirs singing alternate verses.
For some years back, all the editions bear on the frontispiece some testimony to the wonderful industry of the composer. 1586 seems to bring the first warning of declining strength. It is a blank as far as publications are concerned, and the opening of 1587 brings with it the gift from Duke William of a country house at Geising on the Ammer, probably as a place of occasional retirement. Then he comes back to work, and in gratitude, no doubt, for better health, on April 15 dedicates 23 new madrigals to the court physician, Dr, Mermann. In August a new volume of the 'Patrocinium Musices' appears, containing 13 [App. p.697 "10"] magnificats. Two masses, a 'Locutua Sum' and 'Beatus qui intelligit,' bear the same date. Towards the close of the year Orlando is begging for rest from his arduous duties as chapel-master. Portions of the Duke's decree in answer to this request are interesting.
'The good and loyal services of our well-beloved and faithful servant Orland de Lassus, … lead us to show our favour and gratitude to him, by allowing his honourable retirement from his duties as master of our chapel, seeing that such duties are too onerous for him, and we permit him to pass some portion of each year at Geising with his family … In consideration of this his appointments will be reduced 200 florins annually … But, on the other hand, we appoint his son Ferdinand as a member of our chapel at a salary of 200 florins, and at the same time to his other son, Rudolph, who has recently humbly asked our permission to marry, we grant his request and confer upon him the place of organist with a salary of 200 florins, on condition that he undertake the education in singing and composition of the young gentlemen of the choir.'
The composer does not seem to have been satisfied with this arrangement, and again returns to his post. In 1588, in conjunction with his son Rudolph, he brings out 50 'Teutsche Psalmen.' Commer prints the 25 nos. contributed by Orlando—and very beautiful and interesting they are—3 part hymns, the melody occuring, according to his fancy, in either of the 3 parts.
The volume of the 'Patrocinium Musices' for 1598 [App. p.697 "1589"] contains 6 masses, the last number being the 'Missa pro defunctis,' which we may consider the last important publication of his life. Its lovely opening is an inspiration which finds no parallel in any other of his compositions that we have seen. As his end approaches, he has here
And here his life's work seems to end; in the next volume of the 'Patrocinium Musices' we find other names, and nothing bears Orlando's but 12 German part-songs. Then an utter blank. The fresh effort to work had completely prostrated him, but death did not come at once to his relief. His wife Regina finds him one day so ill that he fails to recognise her. The Princess Maxmiliana sends Dr. Mermann, at once, and there is a temporary recovery, but the mind is still at fault. 'Cheerful and happy no longer,' says Regina, 'he has become gloomy and speaks only of death.' Promises of the Duke's further bounty have no effect upon his spirits. He even writes to his patron, complaining that he has never carried out his father Albert's intentions towards him, and it needs all that Regina and the Princess Maxmiliana can do to soften the effect of this act. He died at Munich in June 1594. This date is taken from a letter written afterwards by his wife. The two publications 'Lagrime di S. Pietro,' signed May 24, 1594, and 'Cantiones Sacræ' (Feast of S. Michael, 1594), may imply that his death did not take place till 1595, and that he had so far temporarily recovered as to take an interest in the publication of some old works, or perhaps even to write new ones; but it is natural to prefer the date given by his wife, in which case we must suppose these works to have been edited by other hands. He was buried in the cemetery of the Franciscans at Munich. When the monastery was destroyed, the monument which had been erected over his grave was removed, and kept in the possession of a private family. It was set up in the present century in the garden of the 'Academic des Beaux Arts,' at Munich. Many more details of all these things are given by Delmotte, to whom we refer the reader.
After Orlando's death his sons edited many of his works. Thus Rudolph the organist edited 'Prophetæ Sibyllarum (à 4) chromatico more' in 1600, and Ferdinand the chapel-master printed 4 of his own Magnificats with 5 of his father's in 1602. In 1604 they together issued 'Magnum opus musicum O. de Lasso,' by which work they have immortalised themselves, preserving in 6 volumes of a moderate size, most clearly and beautifully printed, no less than 516 sacred and secular motets. The addition of bars is all that is required to give the work a completely modern form. Dehn is said to have transcribed the whole of it. Ferdinand, the elder brother, died in 1609 at about 50 years of age, leaving several children, one of whom, also called Ferdinand, was sent to Italy for his musical education, and was afterwards Chapel-master to duke Maximilian I. Rudolph, after his brother's death, edited '6 Missæ posthumæ O. di Lasso' (1610) and 100 Magnificats (1619), most of them hitherto unpublished. The two Ferdinands and Rudolph were all eminent composers, and it is said that when the King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, entered Munich in 1632, he visited Rudolph at his house and ordered compositions from him.
We have mentioned the principal works published by Lassus in his lifetime or edited afterwards by his sons. Counted in separate numbers Eitner brings their total to over 1300. This does not include many detached pieces published in collections of music by various composers. Again, the unpublished MSS. are very numerous. When all these are counted, the sacred and secular works are said to amount to about 1600 and 800 respectively, the chief items being 51 masses, about 1200 sacred motets and cantiones, 370 chansons, and over 230 madrigals. Of such works as have appeared in modern notation by the labours of Commer, Proske, Dehn, Van Maldeghem, etc., we may say roughly that they represent about an eighth part of the composer's complete works.
Lassus was the last great Netherland master. His native land for 200 years had been as prominent in music as Germany has been in later times. Italy, a second home to every great Belgian musician since the time of Dufay, was at length to receive the reward for her hospitality, and to produce a composer to compete with the proudest of them. Josquin and Orlando were to find their equal in the Italian pupil of their countryman Goudimel.
Palestrina is often said to have overturned the whole fabric of existing church music in a few days by writing some simple masses for Pope Marcellus. For the truth of this story we refer the reader to the article on Palestrina. It serves well enough as a legend to illustrate the reformation which music had been undergoing since Josquin's time. The simpler church music did not indeed take the place of the older and more elaborate forms of the Josquin period at a few strokes of Palestrina's pen. Even in the writings of Josquin himself the art can be seen gradually clearing itself from meaningless and grotesque difficulties; and there were plenty of good composers, two very great ones, Gombert and Clement, coming between Josquin and Lassus or Palestrina. The simplicity of Lassus' church music as early as 1565 shows that the story of the causes of Palestrina's revolution must not be accepted too literally. The Belgian brought up in Italy, and the Italian pupil of a Belgian, were by no means so widely separated as their too eager friends sometimes try to prove them. Side by side in art, they laboured alike to carry on the work of the great Josquin, and make the mighty contrapuntal means at their disposal more and more subservient to expressional beauty. It seems that the simple forms of expression which Lassus and Palestrina were so often content to use, owed something to the influence of secular music, even though the composers may not have been conscious of drawing directly from such a source. ​But a stronger influence acting on the two musicians is to be found, we think, in the history of the religious movements of the time. Palestrina lived in Rome at a time when zealous Catholics were engaged in vigorous internal reforms as a defence against the march of Protestantism. Lassus too was at a court the first in Europe to throw in its lot with this counter-reformation. The music of the two composers breathes a reality of conviction and an earnestness which is made necessary by the soul-stirring spirit of the time. To Lassus, it is said, strong offers were made by the court of Saxony to induce him to come over to the work of the Protestant Church. Fortunately for the art he remained true to his convictions, and was spared from being spoilt, as many of his fellow-countrymen were, by devoting themselves to those slender forms of composition which were thought suitable to the reformed religion.
Lassus himself saw no violent break separating his music from that of his predecessors, as we may infer from the list of composers whose works were performed in the Munich chapel. In that list the name of Josquin appears in capital letters, for it meant then what the name of Bach means now; and Lassus, with his softer and more modern grace, looked up with reverence and imitated, as well as his own individuality would allow him, the unbending beauty of the glorious old contrapuntist in the same way as Mendelssohn in later times looked up to and longed to imitate the Cantor of the Thomas-schule.
[ J. R. S.-B. ]
* ↑ The original MS. is now in the Mons library. The author lived between 1580 and 1635.
* ↑ 'A l'issue de la malson portant l'enselgne de la noire teste.' Delmotte (in his Life of Lassus, Valenciennes, 1836) thinks 'the Black Head 'was situated in the Rue Grande, No. 92. Counting the number of houses between the 'Polds de fer' (town weighing-house) and the 'Maison de la noire tête' in the old records of the town, he found it to correspond with the distance from the former building. Moreover No. 92 bore, in Delmotte's time, the sign of a helmet, which he thinks might, in olden time, have been painted black to imitate iron, and thus have been called the 'noire tête.' He goes on to say, but without stating his authority, that this house, No. 92, had formerly a passage leading into the Rue de grande Guirlande (afterwards and now Rue des Capucius) between the houses Nos. 57 and 59. If so, it must have been a house of importance, with back premises stretching behind the whole length of the Rue des Capucins. Nos. 57 and 59 are at present (1878) large new houses, with a passage between them leading to No. 55, a private house behind the street. If this passage marks the site of the original 'Issue' spoken of by Vinchant, then the house in which Lassus was born may have been situated on one side of it, at tha corner of the Rue de Cantimpré. Curiously enough, Matthieu, in his Life of Lassus, says that an Isabeau de Lassus lived in the Rue de Cantimpré, Quartier Guirlande, which adds to the probability that a house situated at the corner of the two streets may have been occupied by the composer.
* ↑ The church of St. Nicolas was burnt down in the 17th century, and replaced by the present building.
* ↑ Van Quickelberg, whose own biography appears in Pantaleon's book, was born at Antwerp to 1529, and practised as a physician at the court of Munich, while Lassus was chief musician there. We must give great weight to an account written by a contemporary and compatriot, and under the eyes of the composer himself. The date 1530 is no printer's error, as Delmotte suggests, for the account speaks of Lassus as a child at the siege of S. Dizier, which took place in the year 1544. Therefore Van Quickelberg must have meant to say 1530, just as certainly as Vinchant emphasises his date 1520 by a reference to the coronation of the emperor. Judging simply by the authority of the statements, we should certainly give the preference to Van Quickelberg; but Vinchant's date is supported by so many other considerations that we think Delmotte, Fétis, and Ambros are right in preferring it, though it is premature to adopt it absolutely. These dates may be more important than at first sight appears, if some one undertakes a comparison of the influence of Lassus and Palestrina on the history of music.
* ↑ According to Dehn. an edition of motets, dated 1545, is in the library at Bologna. This statement requires some confirmation. The MSS. catalogues of the Italian libraries, in Dehn's possession, some of which are in the Fétis library at Brussels, are not likely to be entirely free from error.
* ↑ Roland de Lattre par Adolphe Matthieu. Gand (no date).
* ↑ Trésor Musical. 10$^{me}$ Année. Bruxelles 1874.
* ↑ See the name in Eitner's Bibliographie (Berlin, 1877). p. 224.
* ↑ Musica Sacra, x. 47 (Trautwein).
* ↑ Sammlung Gesangstücke, l. 15 (Schott).
* ↑ Musica Divina, ii. 250 (Ratisbon, 1853).
* ↑ Discorsi delli triomphi, etc., nelle nozze dell' illustrissimo duca Guglielmo, etc., da Massimo Trojano (Monaco, Berg, 1568).
* ↑ The Editor desires to express his special thanks to Professor Halm, the Director of the Royal State Library, for the prompt kindness with which he granted permission and gave every facility for the photographing of the portrait. Another portrait from the same MS., on a smaller scale, full length and in a long gown, is lithographed and given in Delmotte's Life of Lassus.
* ↑ Thus rendered in the Douay Version—'In the heart of the prudent resteth wisdom, and it shall instruct all the Ignorant.' The artist has incorrectly written 'in doctos.'
* ↑ See these names in Eitner's Bibliographie.
* ↑ Geschichte. iii 363.
* ↑ Some doubt has lately been thrown on the authorship of these words.
* ↑ In what collection this song made its first appearance is not known.
* ↑ A facsimile copy of this grant is kept in the Brussels library (Bibl. de Bourgogne, 14,405). The part referring to the coat of arms is worth quoting: 'Linea autem illa candida seu argentea, quæ medium scutia, aream constituit, ordine recto contineat tria signa musica, aureo colore tincta, quorum ptimum Diesis vulgo nuncupatum, quod emoliendæ vocis inditium est, dextram, alterum vero, ♮ durum scilicet sinistram illius partem, tertiam autem videlicet b molle centrum clypel occupet.' Delmotte, in copying this in his book, has substituted the word 'becarre' for the sign ♮, which is curious, because the inerest of the quotation centres round a symbol which appears in the composer's coat of arms, but seldom appears in his music. He generally contradicted his flats with sharps, and vice versa.
* ↑ The so-called 'Antwerp Polyglot Bible,' published in 1569–72 at the expense of Philip.
* ↑ In the original edition the second mass in vol. ii. is printed with its wrong title. It should be Missa super 'Scarco di doglia,' as it appears in subsequent editions.
* ↑ These are all lying in modern score and ready for publication in the Fétis library at Brussels.
* ↑ Verzeichniss der gedruckten Werke von O. de Lassus (Trautwein, 1874).