Motet: Ave gemma claritatis

Motet: Ave gemma claritatis (Hugo de Lantins)

This early fifteenth-century motet sets two rhymed antiphon texts in praise of St. Catherine of Alexandria. Little is known of the motet’s Netherlandish composer, Hugo de Lantins, but his surviving works indicate that he worked for several ducal families in Italy in the early fifteenth century. Ave gemma claritatis appears in a magnificent manuscript of sacred music compiled in northern Italy in the 1420s and 1430s, now held in Bologna. This important source contains polyphonic mass sections, hymns, Magnificat settings, and over 100 motets in a variety of musical styles. In this setting, two treble melody voices with texts sing over two lower voices. The two treble voices are introduced separately at the start of the motet, each singing a similar melodic phrase. The upper voices share much melodic material, and frequently intertwine and overlap. The lower parts move more freely, but sometimes present short fragments of melody sung by the upper voices also. The texts of the lower two voices have been reconstructed here for this recording.

Refers to this piece of MAG art: http://magart.rochester.edu/Obj7723