O vos omnes



Michiel van der Borch, Crucifixion, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1332


O Vos Omnes

O vos omnes is a responsory, originally sung as part of Roman Catholic liturgies for Holy Week, and now often sung as a motet. The text is adapted from the Latin Vulgate translation of Lamentations 1:12. It was often set, especially in the sixteenth century, as part of the Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday. Some of the most famous settings of the text are by Tomás Luis de Victoria (two settings for four voices: 1572 and 1585), Carlo Gesualdo (five voices: 1603; six voices: 1611), and Pablo Casals (mixed choir: 1932). (Wikipedia)


O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, attendite et videte:
O all you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see:
Si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
Attendite, universi populi, et videte dolorem meum.
Pay attention, all people, and look at my sorrow:
Si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.

Gregorian Chant:


Performed by the Benedictine Sisters of Regina Laudis [Grooveshark]

Performed by the monks of L'Abbaye de Ligugé [musicMe] (info)

Tomás Luis de Victoria:

Performed by the American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz conducting [Grooveshark] (info)

Performed by the Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner conducting [musicMe] (info)

Performed by Les Petits Chanteurs de la croix-en-bois, Monseigneur Maillet conducting [musicMe] (info)


Carlo Gesualdo:


Performed by the Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner conducting [YouTube]


Performed by the Cambridge Singers, John Rutter conducting [YouTube]




Performed by Les
Éléments, Joël Suhubiette conducting

Performed by the Ensemble Vocal Européen de la Chapelle Royale, Philippe Herreweghe conducting [YouTube]

Performed by the Oxford Camerata, Jeremy Summerly conducting (five voicers) [Grooveshark]

Performed by Pomerium, Alexander Blachly conducting [Grooveshark]


Charles Gounod:

Performed by Michèle Laporte, soprano; l'Atelier vocal des Herbiers; Dominique Gauvrit conducting [YouTube

Pablo Casals:



Performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge

Performed by the St Martin's Chamber Choir, Timothy Krueger conducting [musicMe] (info)