Veni sponsa Christi

AVAILABLE AS DIGITAL SINGLE ONLY

Veni sponsa Christi – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 - 1594)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was born in the town from which he took his name.  He was chapelmaster at St. Peter’s in Rome from 1551 to 1554 and from 1571 until his death in 1594.  His fame as the outstanding representative of the Roman school has caused his name to be directly associated with the “strict” style of Renaissance counterpoint used as a pedagogical model by students of nearly every succeeding generation.  Palestrina achieved a mastery of contrapuntal techniques, meticulous voice leading, and refined dissonance treatment now universally idealized as the “Palestrina style.”   In this setting of Veni sponsa Christi, the composer created a quintessential example of the Renaissance motet by drawing melodic material directly from the plainsong (heard at the beginning of this track, and then again in the first soprano entrance of the motet) and then embellishing and developing it imitatively in all four vocal parts.

                                     Veni sponsa Christi      Come bride of Christ

                                           Accipe coronam      accept the crown

                                     Quam tibi Dominus      which the Lord

                              Praeparavit in aeternum.      has prepared for you forever.

                                                        Alleluia.      Alleluia.