The Six Motets

Abstract

MOTETS Motet… is a notated musical composition, heavily adorned with fugue and imitation, based on a biblical text and purely for singing without instrument (apart from the thorough bass). However, the vocal parts can also be filled out and strengthened with all kinds of instruments. Motets are works based on biblical texts (and, incidentally, chorales) without the madrigalian elements of cantatas and their concomitant musical forms of recitative and da capo arias; all the musical lines are sung, either unaccompanied or doubled by various instruments.