Praeter rerum seriem

by Niilo Tarnanen

a motet for six voices

(ensemble or mixed choir with soloists)

Description

Praeter rerum seriem (2023) is a motet for six voices. When searching for analysis examples for teaching Renaissance counterpoint in August 2022, I was enchanted by Josquin des Prez’s (ca. 1450-1521) work of the same name. Singing the Gregorian Hymn that gave lyrics and the cantus firmus to Josquin’s masterpiece, I listened to its phonetics and began to compose. I found myself crafting vocal polyphony to a text cross-lighting the miracle of Christmas, which spoke to me in the aftermath of the covid-19-pandemic.

While working on it, I learned there exists multiple versions of the latter half of the hymn text. The protestant modification by Sethus Calvisius (1556-1615) greets the child instead of the mother; the reasoning of Heinrich Isaac’s (ca. 1450-1517) small deviations is less clear. In my motet, these variations step on each other’s toes; the dissensus invites a handful of musical quotes and paraphrases, from Piae Cantiones to Henry Mancini, to join the party.

After completing the composition, I asked my choir mates to form a sextet and we recorded the motet in Joel Lindfors’ studio in Lauttasaari, Helsinki. The project helped me in the final corrections to the score and gave an opportunity to study the intonation of chords with a remarkable precision. I want to express my gratitude to both Joel and the sextet for this opportunity.

Instrumentation

sopr, mezzo, alto, ten, baryt, basso

Category

Vocal and Choral Works

Language

La

Lyricist

Gregorian hymn

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Archive number

MF35436

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