Motet Notes
Luca Marenzio: Tribus Miraculis Ornatum
Italian composer and singer Luca Marenzio (ca. 1553-1599) was considered
by many Renaissance musicians to be the chief archetype of the expressive
16th-century Italian madrigal style. The musical highlights of Tribus
miraculis exist in short melodic fragments, varied rhythms and astonishing
changes in texture that highlight specific words. Three voices open
the motet with melismas on the words “tribus miraculis” (three miracles),
and later similar melismas ornament the words “vinum” (wine) and “Jordane”
(Jordan) followed by homophonic statements of “hodie” (today). Two upper
parts represent the star leading to the manger and there is an appropriate,
startling change at the words “Hodie vinum ex aqua factum est” (today
water was changed into wine). An unusual and remarkable sequential “alleluia”
completes the motet.
© Ryan Turner