O vos omnes

Extract of Carlo Gesualdo's setting of O vos omnes (1611)

O vos omnes is a responsory, originally sung as part of Roman Catholic liturgies for Holy Week, and now often sung as a motet. The text is adapted from the Latin Vulgate translation of Lamentations 1:12. It was often set, especially in the sixteenth century, as part of the Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday. Some of the most famous settings of the text are by Tomás Luis de Victoria (two settings for four voices: 1572 and 1585), Carlo Gesualdo (five voices: 1603; six voices: 1611), and Pablo Casals (mixed choir: 1932), having been recorded on CD by Jayme Amatnecks.

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

References

Audio file
O vos omnes (Victoria: 1585)
Recorded live in 2003 by The Tudor Consort (1.8Mb)
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