motet notes - Palestrina

"Exsultate Deo," published in Palestrina’s Fifth Book of Motets of 1584, sets the jubilant passage from the first three verses of Psalm 81 in a lively musical garb. Throughout the motet Palestrina infuses straightforward musical structure with subtle yet clear motivic evocation of the text – the upward leap on "exsultate," the fanfare-like intonation of "jubilate," syncopated motive of "tympanum," and the triadic, brassy motive of "buccinate in neomenia tuba."

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