This edition was prepared by Peter Rottländer — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Iam moriar mi fili
Staff Notation • Sacred, Motets
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Iam moriar mi fili by Claudio Monteverdi — Lyrics
Iam moriar, mi Fili!
Quisnam poterit matrem consolari,
In hoc fero dolore,
In hoc tam duro tormento?
Iam moriar, mi Fili!
O Jesu, mi sponse, mi dilecte,
mea spes, mea vita!
Me deseris, heu, vulnus cordis mei!
Respice, Iesu, precor, matrem tuam,
quae gemendo pro te pallida languet;
atque in morte funesta,
in hac tam dura et tam immani cruce,
tecum petit affigi.
O Jesu mi, o potens homo, o Deus!
En inspectores, heu, tanti doloris
quo torquetur Maria.
Miserere gementis tecum
quae extincta sit, quae per te vixit.
Sed promptus ex hac vita discedes,
O mi Fili, et ego hic ploro.
Tu confringes infernum hoste victo superbo
et ego relinquor praeda doloris, solitaria et maesta.
Te, Pater almus, teque fons amoris
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About Iam moriar mi fili
Claudio Monteverdi’s Iam moriar mi fili is a powerful motet for SSATB voices, setting a deeply emotional Latin text. The words express the profound grief of Mary at the foot of the cross, contemplating the death of her son, Jesus. She laments her unbearable sorrow and torment, pleading with Jesus not to abandon her. The text speaks of her fading pallor from weeping and her desire to be crucified with him. Mary’s pain is intense as she watches him die, while he, victorious over death, will depart this life, leaving her alone and desolate. Monteverdi’s SSATB setting captures the raw anguish and poignant devotion of this iconic Marian text.
