The first two lines of the responsory are Matthew 26:38.[1] In the King James Version, the beginning of the Latin text, told in the first person, is translated as "My soul is exceeding sorrowful".[2]
While the first two lines are quoted from the bible, the last two lines of are free anonymous poetry, predicting they will see a crowd, they will flee, and Jesus will go to be sacrificed for them.[1]
Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem :
sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum :
nunc videbitis turbam, quæ circumdabit me.
Vos fugam capietis, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis.
Versus:
Ecce appropinquat hora, et Filius hominis tradetur in manus peccatorum.
Vos fugam capietis, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis.
My soul is sorrowful even unto death ;
stay you here, and watch with me.
Now ye shall see a multitude, that will surround me.
Ye shall run away, and I will go to be sacrificed for you.
Versus:
Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Ye shall run away, and I will go to be sacrificed for you.
Settings
First notes sung by soprano and (first) alto of Lassus' Tristis est anima mea, No. 1 in Drexel 4302Extract of Gesualdo's setting of Tristis est anima mea (1611)
Motets and other musical settings based on the responsory:
A 1611 responsory by Carlo Gesualdo: "... begins with desolate, drooping figures that conjure Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane ... It then accelerates into frenzied motion, suggesting the fury of the mob and the flight of Jesus’ disciples. There follows music of profound loneliness, radiant chords punctured by aching dissonances, as Jesus says, “I will go to be sacrificed for you.”"[5]
