The Complete Motets 21

This volume contains the sixty-one motets transmitted only inMagnum Opus Musicum, the 1604 compilation by Lasso's sons of almost all of his motets. The contents range from brief canonic sketches and training pieces to Lasso's only motet for three choirs, "Domine, quid multiplicati sunt."

The texts are mostly religious or moralizing, apart from several that celebrate political or religious personages and another group that were composed for use in a Jesuit drama. Thirteen six-voice motets that appear consecutively in modal order in MOM may have been left over from the Graz motet book of 1594, or alternately they may have been intended for another motet book that Lasso was unable to complete.

The supplement to this volume includes indexes to the entire Lasso motet edition, including an alphabetical index and indexes by tonal type, sources of the texts, and disposition of voices (CCATB, CAATB, etc.). The Lasso-Verzeichnis catalog number for each motet is also given.