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Use: General
Required Resources: SAB choir
Language: Latin
Little is known of the life and work space of Jacob Clemens, an early 16th-century Flemish composer.
His attribution "non Papa" ("not the Pope") is odd (and may even have been a perduring joke), since there is little to suggest that the composer Jacob Clemens would ever be confused with Pope Clement VII (1478-1535).
Clemens was a very prolific composer, writing a great deal of music in his short life of 45 years.
His music was often performed and well-respected during his lifetime, and in the generation after his death; Orlando di Lasso and William Byrd were quite influenced by his work.
In Benedicite Domino we have a two-part work, for SAB voices.
The composite text, coming from various psalms and I Chronicles, may have been compiled by the composer himself.
Speaking of blessing and thanksgiving, the work is in two sections, which may be sung together as a longer motet.
Each part may also be sung separately, perhaps as Offertory and Communion at the same Mass.
This motet is a great asset to those choirs, short on male voices, who still wish to sing the treasures of Renaissance polyphony.
Check it out - and use it often!
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