Dominus Regavit

Nearly 500 years earlier, Josquin des Prez (b. 1450) was the recognized master of counterpoint in northern Europe. Born near the modern border between France and Belgium, Josquin ascended to the highest positions in several court cities including Aix-en-Provence, Ferrara, Milan, and Rome. He pioneered the genres of mass and motet in the generation before Palestrina. Josquin’s four-voice motet Dominus Regavit unfolds as a spectacular set of miniature fugues. At first, Dominus presents literal canons at the 5th between paired voices (soprano and alto, then tenor and bass). Later in the work, the texture swells to tightly overlapped four-part harmony, still built upon the principles of fugue throughout and generating considerable momentum right up to the final cadence.

(c) Jason Stell