O Vos Omnes - Pablo Casals

Last time, we talked about some ways that silence is used as an integral part of music.  I'd like to continue that discussion in the context of an entire piece.

This is a piece by Pablo Casals titled O Vos Omnes.  It's one of my favorite choral pieces, and I think you'll like it too.

It sounds a little bit like the Palestrina Kyrie from last time, doesn't it?  The voices blend together mellifluously to form a cohesive whole.  It's in Latin, the tempo is quite slow, and it's for choir without accompaniment.  You might think that Casals and Palestrina could have been contemporaries.

Actually, that couldn't be farther from the truth.  Palestrina wrote the Missa Papae Marcelli, of which the Kyrie is a part, in 1562.  Pablo Casals was a Catalan musician.  He wrote O Vos Omnes in 1932 - 370 years later!  I refer to Pablo Casals as a musician, rather than a composer, because he was the most famous and respected cellist of his day.  (Much like Yo Yo Ma is today.)  You can hear the basses and cellos playing in Casals' head when the basses and tenors in the choir come in: o vos omnes.  O vos omnes qui transitis per viam.

In this piece, Casals borrows heavily from the Renaissance tradition of Palestrina.  Like many choral works from the Renaissance, this piece borrows from the liturgy of the Church.  The text comes from the Bible, in the Book of Lamentations:

O vos omnes

Qui transitis per viam:

Attendite, et videte

Si est dolor sicut dolor meus.

O, all ye

Who pass by on the road before me:

Behold, and see

If there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.

Casal's setting of O Vos Omnes is an example of homophonic texture.  Remember how the Palestrina had all the voices singing on top of each other, with each voice singing different lyrics all at the same time?  O Vos Omnes isn't like that.  For the whole piece, each voice sings the same lyrics at the same time.  When one voice rests, all the voices rest.  And so we hear:

O vos omnes.  O vos omnes qui transitis per viam.

Attendite, attendite!  Attendite et videte.

Attendite et videte!

Si est dolor, si est dolor sicut dolor meus.

Si est dolor, si est dolor sicut dolor meus!

Si est dolor…

Si est dolor sicut dolor meus…

O vos omnes.

O vos omnes qui transitis per viam.

Each one of these lines, all by itself, is called a phrase.  Phrases in music are like sentences in English.  A phrase is the smallest unit of music that conveys a more or less complete musical thought.  A phrase has a definite beginning, moves towards a climax, then resolves as it reaches the end.  

Listen to the first phrase: the basses and tenors singing "O vis omnes".  There is a crescendo - the music becomes louder - from "O" into "omnes" - and then it dies back a bit.  The choir goes on: "o vos omens qui transi…"  Here, the parts clash with each other, creating dissonance and stress.  But then they resolve: "…tis per viiiiiiiiiiiiam."  With a bit more stress on "viam".

There it is.  A complete phrase.  Followed by silence.

That silence is important.  It makes an impression on the listener: this is what I just said.  Reflect on it, think about it, while I continue.

There are two climaxes in this piece.  The first is on "Attendite! Et videte!"  Stop!  And see!  What am I supposed to stop and see?  The music goes on.

"… si est dolor sicut dolor emus."  OK.  Sorrow such as mine.  But it keeps building…

"SICUT dolor emus!"  Sorrow SO BAD as what I feel!

But then it dies down.  "Si est dolor… sicut dolor emus…"

OK, I give up.  Sorrow such as mine.  You really don't understand, do you?

And then we're back to the beginning.  Except, if you listen closely, we're not really back to the beginning, are we?  The first time around, the basses and tenors came in with a minor chord.  "O vos omnes"… somber and haunting.  But this time, it's a major chord!

"O vos omnes"… yeah.  You.  Passing before me.  You think you understand, but you don't.  I'm laughing at you as you walk right in front of me.

O vos ornes qui transitis per viam.