Petits motets manuscrits
Sébastien de Brossard left us 32 petits motets for one, two or three voices and continuo, with or without instruments, to which we must add O Miraculum! O novitatis! which serves as the elevation motet for his Missa quinti toni (Christmas mass). Sixteen of these were published during Brossard’s lifetime, and are included in the volume Motets imprimés. Fifteen others have come down to us thanks to the bequest of his musical collection to the Bibliothèque Royale in 1724–1726, four of which are incomplete. The last, Silentium dormi, is found in a collection of small motets from Vannes Cathedral. It is these last motets, still in manuscript form, that are the subject of the present volume, apart from the incomplete ones.
3 motets for one voice and continuo:
- Canticum in honorem s. PII Quinti (dessus or taille)
- Canticum in honorem S. Caecilia (treble)
- Silentium dormi (waist)
1 motet for two voices and continuo :
- Beati immaculati (treble and bass)
1 motet for three voices and continuo :
- Elevatio pro die purificationis (countertenor, waist and bass)
1 motet for one upper voice and continuo with alternating verses in 3-voice faux-bourdon:
- Miserere mei Deus
Les Quatre leçons des morts for 2 voices, 2 violins and continuo
- Parce mihi Domine (dessus, haute-contre)
- Taedet animam meam (2 dessus)
- Manus tuae fecerunt me (top, treble)
- Responde mihi (dessus, haute-contre)
2 motets for 3 voices, 2 violins and continuo :
- Nisi Dominus (countertenor, waist and bass)
- Magnificat (countertenor, waist, bass)
In this critical edition, Jean Duron provides a wealth of material for performers to ponder, both in terms of the care taken in Sébastien de Brossard’s choice of texts, and in highlighting the form, balance and counterpoint of the works, the various possible interpretations of the sources, as well as Brossard’s reflections on interpretation (breathing, tempi, nuances, instruments, ornaments, figured bass) that are particularly useful in this context.
For performance purposes, the works are available in concert kit form.