Disiecta Membra is a Latin term that refers to ancient fragments of poetry, manuscripts, or other cultural objects. Mauro Lanza has adopted this as the title for his new piece for vocal sextet.

The text for the piece is drawn from Testamentum Porcelli, a short medieval prose work in which Marcus Grunnius Corocotta, a pig, expresses his last wishes before being slaughtered and bequeaths the 12 parts of his body to 12 beneficiaries. The list of the 12 cuts of pork, explains Lanza, is related to the form of the piece, which is comprised of 12 brief sections corresponding to the numbers in the list. Lanza draws upon a range of musical ideas from the seven cantatas of Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, each one referring to a part of the body of Christ.

The world premiere of Disiecta Membra will be performed by the Neue Vocalsolisten on February 7 at the Festival Eclat in Stuttgart.

Mauro Lanza: works