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Views from the Choir Loft

Josquin Desprez • A Marian Masterpiece

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · May 25, 2017

160 Mary AY IS MARY’S MONTH, and before it gets away from us, I would like to promote one of the most beautiful and truly great motets of the Renaissance, Josquin Desprez’ AVE MARIA…VIRGO SERENA.

In the monumental New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Stanley Sadie, ed., 1980), Gustave Reese and Jeremy Noble begin their entry on Josquin thusly:

“Josquin Desprez, one of the greatest composers of the entire Renaissance and certainly the most important before the second half of the 16th century, was born about 1440.”

This statement is not hyperbole, yet the name of Josquin today pales in comparison with those of Palestrina, Byrd, and even lesser composers of the era. His genius during his lifetime was, however, met with widespread recognition. His numerous masses and motets were regarded as models for composers of the day. The first important music publisher, Petrucci, dedicated three full books to Josquin’s Masses alone; no other composer was given more than one book. So admired was the motet Ave Maria…virgo serena, that it was placed at the head of Petrucci’s first motet collection, printed in 1502 (although it may have been composed as early as 1476).

The poem was well known in its day. Beginning with the ubiquitous Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee, the poem then commemorates the major events in the life of the Virgin: conception, birth, annunciation, purification, and assumption, all vividly depicted amongst the percolating polyphony. These events are then followed by a personal plea to the Blessed Mother, O Mother of God, remember me. Amen, sung to Josquin’s signature solemn homophony.

Listen to this motet, read the poem, and see if you don’t agree that this is a real masterpiece, and that Josquin Desprez belongs in the pantheon of the most important composers in history:

Translation :

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, joyous Virgin. Hail thee whose conceiving, full of solemn gladness, fills heaven and earth with a new joy. Hail thee whose birth was to us a holy day, of thou who surpasses the shining light in the east, the very sun. Hail thy humanity, thy conception without a man, thou whose annunciation was our salvation. Hail thy true virginity, thy spotless chastity, thou whose purification was our expiation. Hail thee, most excellent in all angelic goodness, thou whose assumption was our glorification. O Mother of God, remember me. Amen.

(Translation by William Earle Nettles)


Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Dr. Alfred Calabrese

About Dr. Alfred Calabrese

Dr. Alfred Calabrese is Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, TX. He and his wife have two children.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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