XXXI. LASSUS, Orlande de (1530 or 1532-1594)
After Josquin, came de Lassus and Palestrina. The part-writing is more complex, more polyphonic.
As I pointed out in my previous Josquin entry (XXV), many of the base melodies of these "sacred" works were from secular works, like the first mass in this collection, "Entre vous filles" which comes from an obscene popular song "Entre vous filles de quinze ans" ("You sweet 15-year-old girls") ...
Read the history of infelix ego here.
"Susanne un jour" is only slightly tamer than "Entre vous filles":
[the original song]:
One day, Susanne's love was solicited
By two old men coveting her beauty
She became sad and discomforted at heart,
Seeing the attempt on her chastity.
She said to them: "If disloyally
From my body you take pleasure,
It is over with me! If I resist,
You would make me die in disgrace:
But I would rather perish in innocence,
Than offend the Lord by sin."
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