His requiem is a work of sombre gravity, exploiting low vocal registers, and his chansons are sober and frequently sad --especially those written under the patronage of the ill-fated Marguerite--with continuous textures and imitative writing.

This requiem contains:
1. Introit
2. Kyrie
3. Psalm: Sicut cervus: Tract
4. Offertory
5. Sanctus & Benedictus
6. Agnus Dei
7. Communion: Luceat eis Domine

♫ 1. Introit
© Gaudeamus CD GAU 352


♫ 2. Kyrie
© Gaudeamus CD GAU 352


♫ 3. Psalm: Sicut cervus: Tract
© Gaudeamus CD GAU 352

♫ 4. Offertory
© Gaudeamus CD GAU 352


♫ 5. Sanctus & Benedictus
© Gaudeamus CD GAU 352


♫ 6. Agnus Dei
© Gaudeamus CD GAU 352


♫ 7. Communion: Luceat eis Domine
© Gaudeamus CD GAU 352

This impressive motet Delicta Juventutis, written by Pierre de la Rue is a very long Lament upon the suddenly mysterious death of Philip the Fair at the 25th September 1506, who was a victim of a violent and degenerative fever of unknown cause. As we already saw composers often wrote laments for their patrons as well as for their teachers. Pierre de la Rue served Maximilian I and later the Duke Philip the Fair from 1492 until his death. As it was in that time the court-composer De la Rue was likely responsible for the music to perform of his patrons funeral services, which in fact took a very long time before the burial was performed. De la Rue composed more motets upon the Death of Philip the Fair as we will see. In this motet De la Rue uses parts out of the second nocturne out of the Officium Defunctorum, Office of the Dead, the Antiphon ”Delicta Juventutis ” which is published in the Liber Usualis page 1788.
This Lament starts with that wording: Delicta juventutis (meae) et ignorantias (meas) eius (quaesumus) ne memineris Domine: Remember not the sins of his youth or his transgressions, my Lord; This phrase and the following sentence of this Lament is even used in Psalm 24 – verse 7 and 8 - and published in the Liber Usualis page 1789. Further De la Rue uses some vulgo texts, formulated on this occasion. Seen that text this lament is an intense prayer for the soul of Philip the Fair. Not only that but there is a text reference to Pilippus, (bars 212 and 213). This motet has four very long imitative duo-passages (bar 1-48; bar 114-151; bar 155-170 and bar 191-212) and De la Rue uses more often expressive style due to the chosen words in this motet. The in between four voices-parts – in homophonic style - give accent and underlining to the text and are well chosen by De la Rue. We mean: “In regnum tuum Domine servum tuum suscipe ( bar 55-62) and some further very significant: intercebat pro eo, have mercy upon him (bar 152-155). But beside interesting is a four voice-part with a paraphrase and reference to the “In paradisum”: et perducant eum (te) in civitatem coelestem (sanctam) Jerusalem (bar 90-113) out of the Exsequiis Ordo, Liber Usualis page 1769. This motet is an one full of tense and sadness. This lament is not published in the famous Libro de coro – written about 1504-1506 on behalf of Philip the Fair and Juana the Mad -, preserved MS 9126 in the Royal Bibliotheca in Brussels but is later edited in Secundus tomus novi operis musici, sex, quinque et quatuor vocum, nunc recens in lucem editus. - Nurnberg, H. Grapheus, oct. 1538.

♫ Delicta juventutis
© Glossa GCD P32105

This interesting motet ”Plorer, gemier, crier/ Requiem” written by Pierre de la Rue at the occasion of the death of Philip the Fair in 1506 is written for four voices (CTBB). On that occasion more Laments have been written by Pierre de La Rue, Delicta Juventutis mea and Absalon fili mi. In this motet Plorer, gemier, crier/Requiem the Tenor II and the Bassus – in cantus-firmus - are a paraphrased version of the Introit “Requiem Aeternam” Gregorian plainchant of the Missa pro Defunctis. This work is a mixed-language motet. In the first part of the motet the text is divided in French (Superius and Tenor I) and in Latin (Tenor II and Bassus). The last part - in a 3/2 measure (from bar 33) - is written in an imitative polyphonic way. A part of the text has been unfortunately lost, so the text is incomplete. This last part starts with the French words “Quant la mort”. The total motet contains 51 bars. Pierre de la Rue uses flats and sharps to underline his feelings. It’s a short but very impressive composition, written for low voices given this excellent music of course a sombre effect. This edition has been based upon the manuscript which is found in Florence MS 2439, Biblioteca Del Conservatorio, (called: Basevi codex). This Basevi Codex is written between 1506 and 1514 in the Flemish/Netherlands scriptorium of Brussels and Malines. It was Abraham Basevi who bought this manuscript in the 19th century.

♫ Plorer, gemier/Requiem
© Glossa GCD P32105

This Requiem written for 4-5 voices (C)TTBB or (C)TBBB contains:
01. Introitus: Requiem aeternam
02. Kyrie Christe Kyrie
03. Psalmus/Tractus: Sicut cervus
04. Offertorium: Domine Jesu Christe
05. Sanctus
06. Benedictus
07. Angus Dei I, II, III
08. Communio: Lux aeterna

If we see the original mode of the Requiem by De la Rue (See the edition by Michael Procter 2004) we hear and see a work kept in darkly glowing colours. In general this splendid work breaths rich textures and sombre atmospheres with dark colour due to the use of very deep writing in the Bass up to contra-B-flat in Introitus. Now and then is this dark sphere interrupted by characteristic De la Rue fingerprints in the form of really elegant two voice sections, duo-style. This Requiem mass, more than many others, emphasizes the low registers of men voices, and even the lowest voices themselves.This Missa pro fidelibus defunctis is firmly based on the plainchant melodies of the old Gregorian Missa pro Defunctis in a period the liturgical and musical tradition of a Requiem Mass was not yet unified fixed in the Proper and a Ordinary part. Nevertheless De la Rue composed a complete Requiem plenarium, see the content as stated above here. This version was used in the region of Malines. Probably this Requiem was composed for the Death of Philip the Fair, De la Rue’s patron († 1506). Pierre de la Rue was the favourite court-composer in that time, see for instance three Laments De la Rue composed on occasion of the Death of Philip. The used plainchant by De la Rue provides a basis for the polyphonic composition and is integrated as a soberly paraphrased cantus-firmus in the Tenor part, or in a shared paraphrase between Tenor and Discantus. De la Rue uses in Introitus, Offertorium, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei and Communio a part of the plainchant to start with, excluded the Kyrie and the Tractus/Psalmus.
In our days the Sicut cervus is no more in use in the Office of the Dead. But many composers used this Proper-section as part of a Requiem-setting, like Johannes Ockeghem (c.1420-1497), Pedro de Escobar (c.1465-aft.1535), Antoine de Févin (1473-1512), Benedictus Appenzeller (c.1480/88-aft.1558). All parts of this Requiem are in principal written for four voices excluded the Kyrie III, Quam Olim Abrahae, Sanctus, Osanna, Agnus Dei I, II, III. These parts are written for five voices. The beginning of the Sicut cervus (bar 1 up to 34) like the beginning of the Offertorium ( bar 1 up to 40) are written in an real elegant way for two voices. In fact a real duo in a De la Rue style. And see at last the middle of the Offertorium after Hostias, the Tu suscipe (bar 77 up to 85) written in the same duo-style.
This Missa pro fidelibus defunctis is among others three times found in the famous Codex of Munich which was carried off by Swedish in 1631 and further edited in other sources like Jena, Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, MS 12, Origin: in Brussels/Malines,1508-1525; Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Cappella Sistina 36, Origin in Brussels/Malines, 1513-1518.

His requiem is a work of sombre gravity, exploiting low vocal registers, and his chansons are sober and frequently sad --especially those written under the patronage of the ill-fated Marguerite--with continuous textures and imitative writing.