Deus misertus hominis

Four-part conductus from the ​Magnus Liber Organi​ (13th c.)

Transcription, arrangements and practice materials for voice and piano

by Alex Ness

Table of contents
Notes PDF p. 2
Introduction 2
Source details 2
CC license 2
Text and pronunciation 3
Technical notes 4
Source notation image 5

Transcription 7

Arrangements 16
1. June 24, 2018 16
2. June 26, 2018 22
3. June 27, 2018 28
4. July 8, 2018 34
5. July 10, 2018 40
6. July 14, 2018 46

Practice materials 52
1. July 9, 2018 52
2. July 10, 2018 61
3. July 11, 2018 69
“Deus misertus hominis”: notes
Page 2

Introduction
Over the last couple years, I’ve been arranging early music repertoire for myself to sing while
playing the piano. More recently, I’ve been experimenting with a program that generates
arrangements and practice materials automatically, for daily practice. These experiments reflect
my musical habits, tastes, and abilities in the following ways: first, I enjoy practicing the same
composition in various keys, with different combinations of voices (often leaving one or more
voice out of the texture), in varying degrees of analytic reduction, sometimes with solfège and
sometimes with lyrics; second, I enjoy having something new to practice every day; third,
singing one voice while playing ​at most​ two others stretches me to the limit of my abilities as a
performer and listener.

As always, I share these scores to encourage ​you​ to explore this remarkable music. You are
welcome to alter the notation however you see fit, provided that you abide by the ​CC BY-SA 4.0
​ mail me​ to let me know what you think of these materials.
license. Finally, feel free to e

(revised Dec. 16, 2017)

Source details
I transcribed the composition from the manuscript, which is available on IMSLP ​here​. See
pages 4–5 of the notes for reproductions.

CC license
CC BY-SA 4.0​ (Attribution/ShareAlike)
“Deus misertus hominis”: notes
Page 3

Text and pronunciation

The “Italianate Latin” pronunciation is close to (modern) Ecclesiastical Latin pronunciation,
which seems to be the de facto pronunciation choice for ensembles singing this piece. Given
that the composition is from medieval France, however, an attractive alternative is to use French
regional pronunciation: [mɪzɛrtys] for ​misertus​, [pyrʒɛtyr] for ​purgetur​, etc. Listen to Ensemble
Organum’s ​École Notre Dame​ recording to hear an example of this (Harmonia Mundi: HMC
901538).

Latin text Classical Latin pronunciation Italianate Latin pronunciation

(IPA) (IPA)

1. Deus misertus hominis, dɛʊs mɪsˈɛrtʊs hˈɔmɪnɪs dˈɛːʊs mizˈɛːrtʊs omˈiːnis

lavit reatum criminis lˈawɪt rˈɛatʊm krˈɪmɪnɪs lˈaːvit reˈaːtʊm krimˈiːnis
Eve per partum virginis. ˈɛwɛ pɛr pˈartʊm wˈɪrɡɪnɪs ˈɛːve pˌɛr pˈaːrtʊm virdʒˈiːnis

O quam dulce remedium, oː kwam dˈʊlkɛ rɛmˈɛdɪʊm ˌo kwˈam dˈultʃe remˈedjʊm

ut vitium
purgetur per contrarium;
fit electis compendium,
ne tedium
sit currenti per stadium,
si differatur bravium.
ʊt wˈɪtɪʊm
pˈʊrɡɛtʊr pɛr kɔntrˈarɪʊm
fɪt ɛlˈɛktɪs kɔmpˈɛndɪʊm
nɛ tˈɛdɪʊm
sɪt kʊrɾˈɛntɪ pɛr stˈadɪʊm
sɪ dɪffˈɛratʊr brˈawɪʊm
ˈut vˈitjʊm
pʊrdʒˈeːtʊr pˌɛr kontrˈariʊm
fˈit elˈektis kompˈendjʊm
nˌe tˈedjʊm
sˈit kʊrɾˈɛntɪ pˌɛr stˈadjʊm
sˌɪ dˌifferˈaːtʊr brˈavjʊm

2. Virgo concepit filium wˈɪrɡɔ kˈɔŋkɛpɪt fˈɪlɪʊm vˈiːrɡo kontʃˈeːpit fˈiliʊm

cui ferunt testimonium kˈʊɪ fˈɛrʊnt tɛstɪmˈɔnɪʊm kwˈif fˈɛːrʊnt tˌɛstimˈɔnjʊm
pater et evangelium. pˈatɛr ɛt ɛwaŋɡˈɛlɪʊm pˈaːter ˈɛt ˌevandʒˈɛliʊm

Quos serpens nequam inficit,
hic reficit.
Qui sanctus sanctos perficit.
Sine fide non proficit,
sed deficit;
quia qui fidem abicit
non hunc fidelem afficit.
kwɔs sˈɛrpɛns nˈɛkwam ˈɪnfɪkɪt
hɪk rˈɛfɪkɪt
kwɪ sˈaŋktʊs sˈaŋktɔs pˈɛrfɪkɪt
sˌɪnɛ fˈɪdɛ nɔn prˈɔfɪkɪt
sɛd dˈɛfɪkɪt
kwˈɪa kwɪ fˈɪdɛm ˈabɪkɪt
nɔn hʊŋk fˈɪdɛlɛm ˈaffɪkɪt
kwˈos sˈɛːrpens nˈekwam infˈiːtʃit
ˈik refˈiːtʃit
kwˈis sˈanktʊs sˈanktos perfˈiːtʃit
sˈiːne fˈiːde nˈɔn profˈiːtʃit
sˈɛd dˈɛfitʃit
kwˈiːa kwˈif fˈiːdem abˈiːtʃit
nˈɔn ˈunk fidˈɛːlem affˈiːtʃit

3. Non Helisei baculo, nɔn hɛlˈɪsɛɪ bˈakʊlɔ nˈɔn elˈiːzej bˈakʊlo

nec Giezi signaculo, nɛk ɡˈɪɛzzɪ sɪŋnˈakʊlɔ nˈɛk dʒˈɛːtsɪ siɲˈakʊlo
immo crucis umbraculo ˈɪmmɔ krˈʊkɪs ʊmbrˈakʊlɔ ˈimmo krˈuːtʃis ʊmbrˈakʊlo

infanti vita redditur. ɪnfˈantɪ wˈɪta rˈɛdːɪtʊr infˈantɪ vˈiːta redːˈiːtʊr

Hic creditur;
a patre natus mittitur
qui, dum in cruce leditur,
et moritur,
eclypsim luna patitur,
nam sol sub nube tegitur.
hɪk krˈɛdɪtʊr
a pˈatrɛ nˈatʊs mˈɪtːɪtʊr
kwɪ dʊm ɪn krˈʊkɛ lˈɛdɪtʊr
ɛt mˈɔrɪtʊr
ɛklˈypsɪm lˈʊna pˈatɪtʊr
nam sɔl sʊb nˈʊbɛ tˈɛɡɪtʊr
ˈik kredˈiːtʊr
ˌa pˈaːtre nˈaːtʊs mitːˈiːtʊr
kwˈi dːˈum ˌin krˈuːtʃe ledˈiːtʊr
ˈɛt morˈiːtʊr
eklˈipsim lˈuːna patˈiːtʊr
nˈam sˈɔl sˈub nˈuːbe tedʒˈiːtʊr
“Deus misertus hominis”: notes
Page 4

Technical notes
I used the following tools to produce this PDF:
● MuseScore​ to typeset the music notation and generate ​MusicXML​ files;
● Music21​ (and P ​ ython​ more generally) to automate the MusicXML processing (which, in
addition to transposing, rearranging, and merging the composition excerpts, now
includes generating the solfège syllables for them as well);
● eSpeak​ to draft the IPA transcription.
“Deus misertus hominis”: notes
Page 5

“Deus misertus hominis” manuscript page 1

“Deus misertus hominis”: notes
Page 6

“Deus misertus hominis” manuscript page 2

​ ttp://imslp.org/wiki/Magnus_Liber_Organi_(Various)​ (Part 1, PDF pages 27–28)
Source: h
License: Public domain