Salve regina [136]

Pierre de La Rue

Full title / Other titles

SR136 Vita dulcedo 4 vv ; [2.p.] Ad te suspiramus 3 vv ; [3.p.] Et Jesum 4 vv ; [4.p.] O pia 4 vv

Type

Motet

Scores

[1] Vita dulcedo

Polyphonic ensemble STBX

D-G2; Ct-C3; T-C3; B-C4. High clefs. Entire range, A-g’’. Alternatim setting. Chant (App. 4) permeates the texture at the beginning of textual phrases. Most notably, LaRue quotes material from two chansons in three partes. With some rhythmic alteration, the D of Dufay’s Par le regard de vos beaux[1] appears in D of 1.p. transposed a fifth higher. In 3.p. the D contains the D of Je ne vis oncques le pareille[2] a rondeau attributed to both Dufay and Binchois, also transposed a fifth higher. Although the 4.p. exhibits no evidence of chant, the first 23 pitches of T of Je ne vois oncques le pareille serve as a cantus firmus in Ct transposed a fourth lower; the cantus firmus in long-note values in triple mensuration displays a ratio of one measure to three measures of the other voices (D, T, B) in duple mensuration. Triple mensuration complements the borrowed chansons in 1.p. and 3.p. whereas 2.p. is in duple mensuration. Upon hearing the tunes, listeniers could recognize the secular texts as commentary upon Salve regina; Par le regard emphasizes the beauty of a woman while Je ne vis onques stresses the superiority of a specific lady above all others. Text underlay is of limited concern. Final d.

1. CMM 1, vol. 6, No. 73.

Par le regard de vos beaux yeux / In the presence of your beautiful eyes
Et de vo maintien bei et gent / And of your lovely, noble bearing
A vous, belle, vien humblement / I come to you, O lovely one, humbly
Moy presenter vostre amoureux. / To present myself as your lover.

De vostre amour sui desireux / I am eager for your love
Et mon vouloir tour s’y consent / And all my will consents to this.
Par le regard de vos beaux yeux / In the presence of your beautiful eyes
Et de vo maintien bel et gent. / And of your lovely, noble bearing.

Or vous plaise, cuer gracieux, / So if it please you, gracious heart,
Moy retenir or a present / To retain me presently
Pour vostre amy entierement, / To be your most beloved
Et je seray vostre en tous lieux. / I will be yours wherever [you go]..

Par le regard de vos beaux yeux… / In the presence of your beautiful eyes…

Translation by Normand Rioux

2. CMM 1, vol. 6, No. 91. Je ne vis oncques le pareille is attributed to Binchois in ParisBN 57, ff. 51v-52 and Dufay in MonteA 871, No. 46. Fallows suggests that “on present stylistic evidence, the work seems unlikely to be by either composer; and one might be tempted to suggest Busnoys, were it not that his composing career is unlikely to have begun much before 1460.” David Fallows, The Songs of Guillaume Dufay, Musicological Studies and Documents, 47, (Neuhausen-Stuttgart: Hänssler-Verlag, 1995), p. 256. See SR136 for quotation of the same chanson.

Je ne vis onques la pareille / I have never seen the equal
De vous, ma gracieuse dame / Of you, my precious lady
Car vo beaulte est, par mon ame, / For your beauty is, by my soul,
Sus toutes aultres nonpareille. / Unequalled among all others.

En vous voiant je m’esmerveille / On seeing you, I am filled with wonder.
Et dis qu’est ceci nostre dame? / Indeed, I say, can this be our Lady?
Je ne vis onques la pareille / I have never seen the equal
De vous, ma gracieuse dame / Of you, my precious lady.

Vostre tres grant doulceur resveille / Your very great sweetness awakens my spirit,
Mon esprit, et mon oeil entame / And what I see opens my heart.
Mon cuer, dont dire puis sans blame, / I can say this without reproach
Puisqu’a vous server m’apareille / since it is my desire to serve you most of all.

Je ne vis onques la pareille… / I have never seen the equal…

Translation by Normand Rioux
[2] Ad te suspiramus

Polyphonic ensemble

[3] Et Jesum

Polyphonic ensemble STBX

[4] O pia

Polyphonic ensemble STBX

Associated people

Pierre de La Rue - Composer

Creation place and date

No information.

Associated sources

Sung texts

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Salve, regina, mater misericordiae;

Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae.

Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.

Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens,

O pia,

O dulcis virgo Maria.

Bibliography

Modern editions

[CMM 97]

de La Rue, P., 1996, Pierre De La Rue, Opera Omnia, Davison N. St. J., Kreider E., et Keahey H. (éd.).
(n° 18)

References

No information.

Contributors

Harry Elzinga - Project manager ; Scientific editor

Ailin Arjmand - Collaborative work

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Salve regina [136], in RicercarDataLab [https://ricercardatalab.cesr.univ-tours.fr/works/2085/] (accessed 21 January 2026).

Last modification: Dec. 2, 2025