A Lenten Musical Journey, Day 13

Today’s Lenten musical selection is a traditional Holy Week motet from the lengthily-monikered Pau Carles Salvador Casals i Defilló: “O vos omnes.”

Master Defilló (aka, Pablo Casals) is perhaps better known — OK, surely better known — for his transcendent performances as a cellist than for his compositions (or for his significant contributions as a teacher). And while his fame as a performer is surely justified, this motet suggests that it might be time for his compositional contributions to gain on it, just a bit.

O vos omnes qui transitis per viam:
Attendite et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus.

O all ye that pass by the way,
Attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.

Attribution(s): “Pau Casals” by Ramon Casas i Carbó (via Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya), and licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons, which mentions that it is “in the public domain in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 80 years or less” (like the United States) but notes that Mexico has a term of 100 years and does not implement the rule of the shorter term, so this image may not be in the public domain in Mexico; “Bells” provided by Shutterstock.