All, Ash Wed. always reminds me of "emendemus en melius" by Morales; I wonder if anyone has ever arranged this for lutes / vihuelas ? It's one of my favorites. Morales was a very impressive composer! A sequence with some home-made lute samples (for fun only - don't take this seriously) might give a rough idea of the result: [1]http://www.users.qwest.net/~leocassetti/emendemus.mp3 Below is a description of the piece by Gustave Reese in his book "Music in the Renaissance". Best, David ---------------------------------------------------- Morales appears to have liked having one voice sing a text different from but relevant to that given to the others. ... The most striking example is probably the Emendemus in melius, in which Morales combines in a single composition the Ash Wednesday response: Emendemus in melius, quae ignoranter peccavimus: ne subito praeoccupati die mortis, quaeramus spatium poenitentiae, et invenire non possimus. Attende Domine, et miserere: quia peccavimus tibi. (Let us amend the sins that in our ignorance we have committed, lest the day of death come upon us suddenly, and we find no place for repentance, though we seek it. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against thee.) and the words the priest utters during its rendition, these words: Memento homo quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris. (Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.) being assigned to the tenor, which sounds them six times ... The work is starkly powerful. ----------------------------------------------------
References 1. http://www.users.qwest.net/~leocassetti/emendemus.mp3 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
