Giovanni Palestrina: Alma Redemptoris Mater: SATB: Vocal Work

The short motet is scored for four Voices SSSA or SSST or TTTB unaccompanied and displays Palestrina’s gift for transcendent solemnity.Palestrina is one of the towering figures of late Renaissance church music whose polyphoniccompositions remain actively performed in the Choral repertoire. He composed more than 250 motets. This one Alma Redemptor Mater for four Voices is not known to have been published during his lifetime but has been found inmanuscript form in the Collegio Romano in Rome. In 1545 the Council of Trent set out to reform various practices in the Roman Catholic Church in defense of the threats of the new Protestant movement. Clarity of scriptural wordswas one of the issues at stake especially as the polyphonic style of which Palestrina was a master overlaid many Vocal lines creating complex textures. It is possible that this motet was written following the new guidelinesof the Council.