Motet Notes

Jonathan Bailey Holland: The Mystery

In thinking about how to create a work to precede Cantata No. 4, I was drawn to Bach's source material, which was the chant Victimae Paschali laudes, or the Easter Sequence. This chant provides the melodic material that was later used by Martin Luther in his choral setting of the work in the early 18th century. The text from the chant is the Easter story and provides a melodic foundation and a form from which to begin. The motet ends with the intention of leading directly into the beginning of Bach's magnificent work.

© Jonathan Bailey Holland