A pie del'alta e triomphale palma (lauda)

This sacred lauda, for SAB choir, sets a deeply emotional Italian text from the perspective of Mary Magdalene lamenting Christ's death. The anonymous composer captures the sorrow and profound grief of the Magdalene, as she stands by the cross. The words express her pain at seeing her beloved, Jesus, wounded and dead, contrasting the joy she once found in him with the bitter desolation of his absence. She longs to die, as life without Christ brings only sorrow. The lauda's structure follows her escalating grief, concluding with her resolve to find solace at his mortal remains.