Versa est in luctum

Spain’s great wealth and dominance as a colonial power at its peak in the late 1500s were reflected in the magnificence of its cathedrals and the riches of its sacred compositions. The elegiac motet Versa est in luctum for six voices stands among the greatest treasures of this church music made during Spain’s Golden Age, not least by providing sublime proof of the virtues of creative simplicity and expressive restraint. Alonso Lobo learned the rudiments of his craft as a boy chorister at Seville Cathedral in the 1560s. Following university studies and a brief return to Seville, he was elected choirmaster of Toledo Cathedral in 1593. Lobo’s lasting fame rests on Versa est in luctum (“My harp is tuned to grieving”), written in 1598 for the obsequies, or funeral rites, of Philip II of Spain. The work’s intricately woven counterpoint, bearing heartrending words from the biblical Book of Job, conveys profound reverence for the late monarch while evoking the intense stillness that so often arises in the hours following the death of a loved one.