The compositional character of the motet changed entirely during the transition from medieval to
Renaissance music, as most composers abandoned the use of a repeated figure as a
cantus firmus.
Guillaume Dufay was a transitional figure in this regard, writing one of the last important motets in the medieval, isorhythmic style,
Nuper rosarum flores, in 1436. During the second half of the fifteenth century Motets stretched the
cantus firmus to greater lengths compared to the surrounding multi-voice counterpoint, adopting a technique of contemporary 'tenor masses'. This obscured the
cantus firmus rhythm more than in medieval isorhythmic motets. Cascading,
passing chords created by the interplay of voices and the absence of an obvious beat distinguish medieval and renaissance motet styles. Motet frequently used the texts of
antiphons and the Renaissance period marked the flowering of the form. The Renaissance motet is
polyphonic, sometimes with an imitative counterpoint, for a chorus singing a Latin and usually sacred text. It is not connected to a specific
liturgy, making it suitable for any service. Motets were sacred
madrigals and the language of the text was decisive:
Latin for a motet and the vernacular for a madrigal. The relationship between the forms is clearest in composers of sacred music, such as
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose "motets" setting texts from the
Canticum Canticorum are among the most lush and madrigal-like, while his madrigals using
Petrarch's poems could be performed in a church. Religious compositions in vernacular languages were often called
madrigali spirituali, "spiritual madrigals". These Renaissance motets developed in episodic format with separate phrases of the text given independent melodic treatment and contrapuntal development. Secular motets, known as "ceremonial motets", typically set a Latin text to praise a monarch, music or commemorate a triumph. The theme of
courtly love, often found in the medieval secular motet, was banished from the Renaissance motet. Ceremonial motets are characterised by clear articulation of formal structure and by clear diction, because the texts would be novel for the audience.
Adrian Willaert,
Ludwig Senfl, and
Cipriano de Rore are prominent composers of ceremonial motets from the first half of the 16th century.
Renaissance composers The motet was one of the preeminent forms of
Renaissance music. Important composers of Renaissance motets include: •
Alexander Agricola •
Gilles Binchois •
Antoine Boësset •
Antoine Brumel •
Antoine Busnois •
William Byrd •
Johannes Vodnianus Campanus •
Pierre Certon •
Jacobus Clemens non Papa •
Loyset Compère •
Thomas Crecquillon •
Josquin des Prez •
John Dunstaple • François-
Eustache Du Caurroy •
Antoine de Févin •
Carlo Gesualdo •
Nicolas Gombert •
Francisco Guerrero •
Heinrich Isaac •
Claude Le Jeune •
Pierre de La Rue •
Orlando di Lasso •
Jean Maillard •
Cristóbal de Morales •
Étienne Moulinié •
Jean Mouton •
Jacob Obrecht •
Johannes Ockeghem •
Andreas Pevernage •
Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana •
Martin Peerson •
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina •
Thomas Tallis •
John Taverner •
Robert Carver •
Tomás Luis de Victoria •
Manuel Cardoso In the latter part of the 16th century,
Giovanni Gabrieli and other composers developed a new style, the
polychoral motet, in which two or more
choirs of singers (or instruments) alternated. This style of motet was sometimes called the
Venetian motet to distinguish it from the
Netherlands or
Flemish motet written elsewhere. "
If Ye Love Me" by Thomas Tallis serves the demand of the Church of England for English texts, and a focus on understanding the words, beginning in
homophony. ==Baroque examples==