In this piece the two choirs are complementary in terms of pitch: the second choir is slightly lower than the top one. The word-setting is particularly powerful.
Printed after Giovanni Gabrieli’s Symphoniae Sacrae, (Venice, 1597).
Translation:
Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in innocence: I have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I shall not weaken. Examine me, O Lord, and try me; test my reins and my heart, For thy compassion is in front of my eyes, and I have lived according to your truth. I have not sat with the wicked, nor will I go in with the deceitful. I have detested the congregation of the evil, and I will not sit down with the ungodly.
