Sacrae cantiones quinque vocum, liber primus (Andrea Gabrieli)
Contents
Title: Sacrae Cantiones (Vulgo Motecta Appellatae), Quinque Vocum, Liber Primus.
Composer: Andrea Gabrieli
Genre: Motets
Language: Latin
This is Gabrieli's first published collection of his compositions and shows his early style. 1565 is an interesting date as Gabrieli's star was just rising in Venice - he had travelled to Munich in 1562, befriending Orlandus Lassus, and then he became organist at San Marco in 1566. Quite possibly this collection, dedicated to Prince Albert, Duke of Bavaria and probably at least partially composed while in Munich, helped Gabrieli to gain the post.
All items in this collection are motets in Latin, scored for five voices. The exact disposition of parts varies; usually the fifth voice is a tenor but often a cantus and occasionally a bassus. Many motets are in more than one section (indicated in brackets in the table below); these often have some musically unifying feature - for exampe both sections sometimes end with the same music - but in some cases it may be possible to perform only one of the sections.
The texts are split between full Psalms (typically psalms for Vespers, though never including the Gloria Patri) and prayers from the missal propers. The latter are presumably intended to be used in generic devotional contexts, for example penitence, Marian devotions or exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
As suggested on the 1565 title page, instrumental support or substitution is optional but worth considering.
Contents of the Sacrae Cantiones Publication in the order they appear in the publication: