motet notes - Palestrina

One of the four Marian antiphons traditionally sung at the end of Compline or Vespers, "Alma Redemptoris Mater" is a beautiful prayer of intercession to the Mother of God. Originally set for eight voices divided into two choirs, it is usually sung in modern performance by a four-voice choir as heard today. The predominant texture in this work is homophony which offers a very direct and effective delivering resulting in a meditative quality of hushed wonder and expectation appropriate for this 1st Sunday of Advent. 

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