Psalm 42 Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus. *****-----*****-----***** Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks:...
Sicut cervus, composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, is influenced by an Old Testament Scripture in the Bible. The lyrics throughout the entire piece are repetitions of the same single phrase which is found in Psalm 42:1. Although these lyrics are not exactly the same as those in scripture, the translation has relatively the same meaning. The direct translation for Palestrina’s interpretation of the verse is “As a hart longs for the flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God.” Although some people mistakingly assume that the word “hart” originally translated from the Latin “cervus” would be changed to “heart” nowadays, the word “cervus” was actually what most people in the Medieval and Renaissance times would have used to describe a red stag, also known as a buck. It is obvious that the composer had the true meaning of this passage of Scripture in mind while writing the piece because of the way that the song is crafted with such detail.
The song begins with piano dynamics and only one voice part starting off the song then continues to grow in volume as each voice part comes in with the same phrase. Although they are all singing the same words, Palestrina decided to start the tenors with the melody of the song then move them to the harmony soon after the sopranos and basses take over the melody of the song. Though the basses and sopranos are singing the same notes, however, they are beginning each round at a different time, causing a polyphonic texture. The altos enter with a harmony that moves in thirds with the tenors then break off into their own variation of the melody with a more decorative style.
The most distinct variable of this song to me is that it flows in the same way that the writer of this Psalm may have imagined the flowing streams mentioned. (Although the Psalm begins with “A Maskil of the Sons of Korah,” many theologians believe that David is the writer because of how alike this Psalm is compared to others which he has written.) As the song plays, the listener can almost imagine a weary stag finally hearing the tender streams of water for which he was longing. Because of this beautiful imagine, this song is inspirational to me. Before giving up, this song prompts me to search for the living water that is capable of quenching that thirst for something more.
