' (''Three Motets''), FS 139, Op. 55, is a composition for unaccompanied choir by

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he ...

. It is a setting of three quotations in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

from different

psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

chosen by the composer and his wife

Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen (born Anne Marie Brodersen; 21 June 1863 – 21 February 1945) was a Danish sculptor. Her preferred themes were domestic animals and people, with an intense, naturalistic portrayal of movements and sentiments. She al ...

. The three motets, ', ' and ' were first performed on 11 April 1930 at the

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...

Mogens Wöldike Mogens Wöldike (5 July 1897, Copenhagen – 20 October 1988, Copenhagen) was a Danish conductor, choirmaster, organist, and scholar known for his interpretation of music from the Baroque and Classical periods. His son-in-law was the Haydn ...

and the Palestrina choir, to whom they are dedicated. Among the composer's last works, they were published in 1931 by the in Copenhagen.

History and words

Nielsen listened in 1928 to a concert of a cappella Renaissance

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...

conducted by Mogens Wöldike. The conductor asked Nielsen, his former teacher, to compose something for the group, and made suggestions for texts. Instead, Nielsen and his wife Anne-Marie selected sections from different psalms. Nielsen composed the works from April to August 1929 while studying vocal polyphonic music by Renaissance composers. "" is the ninth verse of

Psalm 38 Psalm 38 is the 38th psalm of the Book of Psalms, entitled "A psalm of David to bring to remembrance", is one of the 7 Penitential Psalms.Kirkpatrick, A. (1906)Cambridge Bible for Schools and Collegeson Psalm 38, accessed 3 November 2021 In the s ...

(Psalm 37 in the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

), translated in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

: "Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee." (). "" (The lord leads me), known as: The Lord is my shepherd) are the first two verses of

Psalm 23 Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a boo ...

(Psalm 22 in the Vulgate), reading in the KJ translation: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." (). "" is the 21st verse of

Psalm 31 Psalm 31 is the 31st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "In thee, O , do I put my trust". In Latin, it is known as "In te Domine speravi". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew B ...

(the 22nd verse of Psalm 30 in the Vulgate), in the KJ version: "Blessed be the Lord: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city." (). The three motets were first performed on 11 April 1930 at the

and the Palestrina choir. They were published in 1931 by the in Copenhagen.

Music

The motets are set for an a cappella choir

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

of four to five voices. The first is scored for only the lower voices (ATTB), the central one for SATB, the last one uses a divided soprano. Nielsen wrote the music first, to reflect the mood of the Biblical quotations, adding the texts later. Dennis Shrock, who named the style "

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

", notes in ''Choral Repertoire'': The handwritten parts for the first performance in 1930 are lost, and scholars debate if several markings regarding dynamics and phrasing, which were added by the conductor

and appear in the first printed edition, were approved by the composer. Nielsen was pleased with the motets, both his approach and the works themselves.

References

Sources

* {{Authority control Compositions by Carl Nielsen Motets 1929 compositions