To be discover, Tristitia obsedit me, composition by Florent Gauthier, for mixed a cappella choir :
Tristitia obsedit me ("Sadness obsesses me") is a Latin meditation composed in prison by Jerome Savonarola on May 8, 1498, after being tortured.
The prison authorities had spared only his right arm during the preliminary torture, so that Savonarola could sign his confession.
After that, and in a state of despair that he was not strong enough to resist the pain of his prolonged torture, he wrote Infelix ego and part of another meditation, Tristitia obsedit me, on Psalm 30, which he would not have time to complete since he was burned in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence on May 23, 1498.
Composition for mixed a cappella choir (SATB):
"This Tristitia Obsedit is a "laboratory" piece in which I tried to simplify my vocal writing in order to keep only the harmonic essentials.”
Florent Gauthier - 2 juillet 2020
Tristitia obsedit me.
Magno et forti exercitu vallavit me,
occupavit cor meum clamoribus
et armis die noctuque
contra me pugnare non cessat.
