Missa Assumpta est Maria

Palestrina weaves a strikingly rich polyphonic piece from the simple plainchant melody of “Assumpta est Maria.” The beauty of the original Gregorian tune, from the service of Vespers on the Feast of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary, inspired the composer to write one of his finest motets, hallmarked by its elegant economy of ideas, incisive rhythmic energy, and arresting expressions of joy. The work, possibly written in the decade before Palestrina’s death in 1594, was preserved in manuscript form in the library of the Sistine Chapel and would have been performed by its choir for the pope and his household. Mary’s elevation into heaven, body, and soul is reflected in the rising melody with which Palestrina opens his motet. The spirit of rejoicing among the angels and all creation registers in the work’s contrasts of choral textures and its two triple-time settings of the words “Gaudete et exsultate omnes” (“Let all rejoice and be glad”). The motet’s second half begins with a largely chordal contemplation of Mary’s attributes, fair and strong, and is crowned by a sublime evocation of the Queen of Heaven who “reigns with Christ for evermore.”