Michel-Richard de Lalande’s motet Quam dilecta was almost certainly composed before his appointment to the coveted post of maître de chapelle at Versailles by Louis XIV in 1683. It is therefore an early work by a great master of the genre, blending various musical elements with unprecedented talent.

The work is large-scale: five soloists (dessus, haute-contre, taille, basse-taille and basse), a large French choir (divided dessus, hautes-contre, tailles, basses-tailles, basses) and a French orchestra (dessus de violons 1 & 2, hautes-contre, tailles, quintes et basses de violon, flutes, oboes, bassoons and basso continuo). It completes the series of Lalande’s youthful motets already published by Éditions du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles: Deitatis majestatem, Beati quorum, Audite cæli.