Passacaglia about life

Stefano Lundy went down in history as the composer of the first opera on the historical plot “Saint Alexei” ( 1632 ), the author of secular and spiritual works. He is usually attributed Passacaglia della vita . Perhaps the melody of the song belongs to an unknown composer, and Lundy only reworked and arranged it. However, there are no sufficient grounds even for such a statement.

The work was extremely popular in the XVII century, it is included in the repertoire of famous ensembles of ancient music and vocalists. Among the most famous performers: Marco Bisli , ensemble “I'Arpeggiata”, Angelo Branduardi , ensemble “Scintille di Musica”, Fabio Anti, “La Vaga Harmonia”, “Solomon's Knot” ^[1] , “Dialogus de Musica Ensemble” ^{[2 ]} .

This aria is an adaptation of a theme popular at the time, developing the ideas of the Council of Trent ^[3] . Passacaglia della vita consists of short stanzas, united by a refrain , in which the theme of transience of life and imminent death is held. This theme is a development of the idea of Memento Mori , popular in Ancient Rome . According to Tertullian, there was a custom according to which the lictor whispered in his ear that he was accompanying the victorious military leader during the triumphal procession, that he was a mortal man ("Respice post te! Hominem te memento!") ^{[4] [5]} .

Another direct source of inspiration and artistic images of the author of the lyrics is the Old Testament . Similar motives permeate the Psalter : “Man is like a breath of wind, his days disappear like a shadow” ^[6] . They are found in Job 14. 1-2:

"one. A man born of a wife is short-day and full of sorrows: 2. like a flower, he comes out and falls; runs away like a shadow, and does not stop. "

- Job 14: 1,2

According to another version, the theme of the song is an echo of medieval dances of death , “danse macabre”, evoking the imagination of the listener with images of skeletons dancing on the streets of medieval cities. Another version connects it with the legacy of the work of vagantas . The same phrase became the motto of some monastic orders, in particular kamaldulov and capuchins , in which he replaces the greeting. The words "Homo fugit velut umbra" are carved at the entrance of Ermita del Cristo de los Doctrinos in Spain , dating to the early Baroque .

The form of the song is determined by various art historians as chacon or passacaglia ^[7] . The basis of the song is basso ostinato , a melodic rhythmic figure repeating in the lower voice, against which the upper voices are updated. In a simple stanza melody with an easy to remember dance rhythm, the textual content appears. The refrain of the song is the phrase: “Everyone must die” (“Visogna morire”).

• The composition became an ideological center and gave the name to the album of the early music ensemble I'Arpeggiata : Landi (circa 1586-1639). Homo fugit velut umbra ... Johannette Zomer, soprano. Stephan Van Dyck, tenore. Alain Buet, basso. L'Arpeggiata. Christina Pluhar, dir. Alpha 020. 1 CD. 54'56 ^[8] .
• The song “Passacaglia” (music by Manlio Sgalambro) from the 2012 album “Apriti Sesamo” - an allusion to the composition of Landi by the contemporary composer and singer Franco Battiato ^[9] , uses the motifs of Landi’s music and an unknown author’s text in a modern version ^{[10] ]} .

• "Death playing chess . "
• “Portrait of Dr. de S. playing chess with death”

• Margaret Murata: "Stefano Landi", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 9, 2005).
• Manfred Bukofzer. Music in the Baroque Era. New York, WW Norton & Co. 1947. ISBN 0-393-09745-5 .
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Ed. Stanley Sadie 20 vol. London Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2 .

• Italian text Passacaglia della vita.
• Russian translations of Passacaglia della vita.
• Performed by Marco Beasley and the ensemble l'Arpeggiata (see Russian and English translation of the text below)