Product Description
Lesbia
mi dicit semper male,
commonly known as Catullus 92,
consists of two elegiac couplets written by Gaius Valerius Catullus (84-54
B.C.E) for his lover, Lesbia. Lesbia was the name believed to have been given
by Catullus to his mistress. Her real name was Clodia, the sexually promiscuous
wife of proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, known as Metellus. Catullus
earlier poem, 83, brings some context
to 92. In the first part of 83, Catullus says:
Lesbia keeps insulting me in front
of her husband:
this fills the fatuous idiot with
delight.
Mule, do you perceive nothing? If
she shut up and ignored me
thatd show healthy indifference;
In 92, Catullus expounds on the idea of why
Clodia insults him in front of Metellus. Catullus reckons that he is always
cursing her, and he loves her. She always curses him, so she must love him as
well. In his desperation, Catullus uses his wit and humor to reason that his
obsessive love for Coldia is reciprocated. This setting of 92 uses incessant driving rhythms in the womens voices to paint
the words, "Lesbia mi dicit semper male
nec tacet umquam de me" (Lesbia always speaks ill of me, never shuts
up about me). The repeating rhythms
return in the mens voices when Catullus says he does the same, "quia sunt totidem mea: deprecor illam
assidue" (its the same with me: Im continually complaining.) The piece
comes to a final rest after Catullus realizes the he will always be cursed to
love her.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.