Sacred texts have inspired composers across the centuries to create beautiful pieces of music. The a cappella motet tradition in particular, no matter when the piece was written, seems to always harken back to the Medieval and Renaissance originators of this genre. The San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir explores these commonalities and their divergences through a performance of motets from across the centuries. With new and old settings presented alongside each other, the common threads of this sacred music tradition become incredibly apparent. Maurice Duruflé pulls rich, contemporary harmonies out of the original Gregorian “Ubi caritas” chant. Francis Poulenc’s Lenten motets, “Timor et tremor” and “Vinea mea electa,” are harmonically wild in a similar way to Lassus’ “Timor” and Gesualdo’s “Vinea”. Sensibilities of Johannes Brahms’ motet “Warum ist das Licht gegeben” are evidenced first in the motets of Schütz.
This performance is part of Mission San Jose's 225th anniversary celebration. It will also be performed Friday June 10 as part of the Berkeley Early Music Festival "Fringe Concerts".