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Ecce Nunc Benedicite - Tomás Luis de Victoria
Happy Christmas Eve! I hope whatever you are doing today, wherever you may be spending the holidays, that your days are rich and filled with blessings.

One (small) blessing might be today's motet, about blessings. It's a setting of Psalm 134 by the great Spanish composer Tomás Luís de Victoria (c1548-1611), published in 1600 as part of a large collection with the unwieldy title 'Missae, Magnificat, motecta, psalmi et alia quam plurima, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12vv'.

Here's a translation of Psalm 134:
Lo, now bless our Lord:  
   all ye servants of our Lord.

You who stand in the house of our Lord:
   in the courts of the house of our God.
In the nights lift up your hands in the holy places:
   and bless ye our Lord.
Our Lord out of Sion bless thee:
   who made heaven and earth.


The motet then closes with the standard doxology:

Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. 
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen.



As you can see, in the psalm the blessings are flowing unabated--not only exhortations to the people to bless the Lord, but prayers to the Lord to return the favor. Victoria makes memorable hay while the blessings flow, employing an eight-part double-choir structure. This brief motet is a pleasure to study and to sing, and an absolute joy to hear in the attached recording by Ensemble Plus Ultra, under the direction of Michael Noone. Guaranteed to lift your spirits as you trim the tree and mix up the eggnog. As usual, a score and a text-translation sheet are also attached hereto.

I was so happy to discover this motet a few weeks ago. I had been making some tweaks to our 'Never to Forget' show, upon which Circa 1600 is due to start rehearsals on January 10. The program is designed around two liturgies: In the first half, the Requiem Mass; in the second half, the Evening Service of Compline. 'Ecce nunc benedicite' is one of the Compline psalms, and I had been having trouble finding just the right setting for the context. I must have looked at twenty or more before I came upon this one. 

There's a sort of 'click' that happens when you realize you're found the right one. What a feeling that is! I suppose it could be called a small personal victory; but it feels more like a blessing bestowed.
Click here to download learning materials
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