Lasso's last motet book was published in Graz in 1594 by Georg Widmanstetter, a former employee of Adam Berg in Munich. In his dedicatory preface, dated 29 September 1593, we encounter the aged melancholic—vulnerable and alienated from a world he fears has already left behind both him and his music.

Some of the motets also display a valedictory quality, notably "Prolongati sunt dies mei," "Deficiat in dolore vita mea," and "Recordare Jesu pie." Most of the texts are biblical or liturgical, bu...