Pierre de la Rue: Plorer, gemir, crier

Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452-1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer remembered primarily for his sacred music. Plorer, gemir, crier is a lamentation that takes part of its text from the Requiem Mass and combines it with a French text.

Scholars presume the work was written as a lamentation on the death in 1497 of the renowned composer Johannes Ockeghem. Ockeghem influenced many of his contemporaries and was obviously held in high regard. Music history students invariably encounter Josquin des Prez’s motet La déploration de la mort de Johannes Ockeghem, and today’s work falls in the same category.

In notes for a concert of lamentations by the vocal ensemble Vox, Honey Meconi writes:

In the last half of the fifteenth century, musicians began to treat texts of mourning in ways they had never done before.  Laments had previously been sung as a single line only, but composers began to set these texts polyphonically.  Three, four, or even more voice parts evolved to generate a rich, full sound.  Contemporary writers tell us, too, of an expected association between sorrowful words and deep ranges, and composers obliged by exploring depths never before attempted in written music.  And they were evidently inspired by the moving sentiments of the words, for many of these works are among the most beautiful of all pieces from the Renaissance.

I used to discover many specialized ensembles back when you had to buy records and take them home. But the online world brings me into contact with many more. Quire Cleveland is a professional ensemble with quite a few performances available online. Its another example of how you can now find numerous outstanding groups and performances with just a little searching.