In Western classical music, a motet is a type of vocal music that has many different forms and styles, from the medieval period to today. During the Renaissance, the motet was one of the most important types of music that used multiple independent melodies. According to Margaret Bent, an English music expert, a motet can be defined as "a musical piece with multiple parts and words," a description that applies from the 13th century until the late 16th century and beyond. Johannes de Grocheo, a theorist from the late 13th century, believed that motets should be performed only for educated people who appreciate their complexity, as common people might not notice or enjoy their subtleties.

Etymology

In the early 1900s, people often thought the word "motet" came from the Latin word movere, which means "to move." Some also believed it might come from the French word mot, meaning "word" or "phrase." The Medieval Latin word for "motet" was motectum, and the Italian word mottetto was also used. If the word comes from Latin, it might describe how different voices move in relation to each other. However, today, books that help people learn prefer the French origin, because in 13th-century French, the word "motet" meant "little word." The early forms of motets, called troped clausulas, were first named motelli (from the French mot, "word") and later changed to moteti.

Medieval examples

The earliest motets began in the 13th century and developed from the organum tradition, which was practiced by composers at the Notre-Dame school, such as Léonin and Pérotin. Motets likely came from parts of longer organum pieces called clausulae. Clausulae are short sections of music with multiple voices singing together, note by note. Sometimes, these sections were written separately and used in place of other parts. These clausulae could then have new words added to the top voice or voices, creating motets. Over time, this led to a tradition of secular motets, which were compositions with two to four voices. These pieces often included different texts, sometimes in different languages, sung at the same time over a main melody called a cantus firmus. This melody was usually adapted from a part of Gregorian chant that had many notes on a single word or phrase. Some scholars now believe the term "motet" might also include short songs with only one voice.

The texts in the upper voices of motets covered many topics, such as love poems, stories about shepherds, political messages, and religious devotion, especially to the Virgin Mary. In many cases, the texts of the upper voices connected to the themes of the chant they were based on, even if the texts were secular. Most medieval motets were created anonymously and reused existing music and words. They appeared in various collections, and were especially popular in northern France. The largest surviving collection of motets is found in the Montpellier Codex.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, motets often used repeating rhythmic patterns in all voices, not just the cantus firmus. These patterns, called panisorhythmic, did not always match the repeating melodies. Philippe de Vitry was one of the first composers to use this technique, and his work influenced Guillaume de Machaut, a well-known composer of late medieval motets.

Other medieval motet composers include:

• Adam de la Halle (1237?–1288? or after 1306)
• Johannes Ciconia (c. 1370–1412)
• Guillaume Du Fay (1397–1474)
• John Dunstaple (c. 1390–1453)
• Franco of Cologne (active in the mid-13th century)
• Jacopo da Bologna (active c. 1340–1385)
• Marchetto da Padova (active c. 1305–1319)
• Petrus de Cruce (active in the second half of the 13th century)
• W. de Wycombe (active in the 1270s)

Renaissance examples

The way motets were written changed completely when music moved from the medieval to the Renaissance period, as most composers stopped using a repeated musical pattern called a cantus firmus. Guillaume Dufay was an important figure during this time, writing one of the last major motets in the medieval style, Nuper rosarum flores, in 1436. In the second half of the fifteenth century, motets used the cantus firmus for longer sections compared to other parts of the music, borrowing a technique from "tenor masses." This made the rhythm of the cantus firmus less clear than in earlier medieval motets. Smooth, passing chords created by the interaction of different voices and the lack of a clear beat helped define the differences between medieval and Renaissance motet styles.

Motets often used the words from religious songs called antiphons, and the Renaissance period was a time when motets became especially popular. Renaissance motets were polyphonic, meaning multiple voices sang at the same time, and often used imitation, where one voice repeats a melody after another. They were usually performed by a choir singing Latin texts, and were not tied to a specific religious service.

Motets were sacred songs, while madrigals were secular. The language of the text was important: Latin was used for motets, and local languages (vernacular) were used for madrigals. This connection is clear in composers like Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose motets set texts from the Canticum Canticorum have a rich, madrigal-like style. His madrigals, which used poems by Petrarch, could even be performed in church. Religious songs written in vernacular languages were often called madrigali spirituali, or "spiritual madrigals." Renaissance motets developed into a format with separate sections of the text, each given its own melody and counterpoint.

Secular motets, called "ceremonial motets," usually used Latin texts to praise a ruler, celebrate music, or honor a victory. Themes of courtly love, common in medieval secular motets, were no longer used in Renaissance motets. Ceremonial motets had clear musical structure and clear pronunciation because the texts were new to the audience. Composers like Adrian Willaert, Ludwig Senfl, and Cipriano de Rore wrote important ceremonial motets in the first half of the sixteenth century.

The motet was one of the most important musical forms of the Renaissance. Key composers of Renaissance motets include:

In the late sixteenth century, composers like Giovanni Gabrieli created a new style called the polychoral motet, where two or more choirs (or groups of instruments) took turns singing. This style was sometimes called the Venetian motet to distinguish it from motets written in other regions. The motet If Ye Love Me by Thomas Tallis met the needs of the Church of England by using English texts and focusing on making the words easy to understand, starting with a simple, unified sound called homophony.

Baroque examples

In Baroque music, especially in France, there were two types of motet: petits motets and grands motets. Petits motets were sacred choral or chamber compositions with only a basso continuo (a continuous bass line with keyboard and other instruments) for accompaniment. Grands motets included large choirs and instruments, sometimes up to a full orchestra. Important composers of these motets included Jean-Baptiste Lully, Michel Richard de Lalande, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Their motets often featured soloists, choirs, and multiple movements with different combinations of voices and instruments. Lully’s works, such as Plaude Laetare Gallia, continued the Renaissance tradition of semi-secular Latin motets. This piece celebrated the baptism of King Louis XIV’s son and was written by Pierre Perrin.

In France, other notable composers included Pierre Robert (24 grands motets), Henry Dumont (both grands and petits motets), Marc-Antoine Charpentier (206 different motets), Michel-Richard de La Lande (70 grands motets), Henry Desmarest (20 grands motets), François Couperin (motets lost), Nicolas Bernier, André Campra, Charles-Hubert Gervais (42 grands motets), Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, and François Giroust (70 grands motets). In Germany, motets were also written in the Baroque style. Heinrich Schütz composed many motets in series, such as Symphoniae sacrae, some in Latin and some in German. Hans Leo Hassler wrote motets like Dixit Maria, which he later used in a mass composition.

Six motets attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 225–230) are long compositions that combine German hymns with biblical texts. Some were written for funerals. Most are in a cappella style (singing without instrumental accompaniment) with a basso continuo, though instruments may have played colla parte (together with the voices). The first five motets use double choirs and are likely composed by Bach. Lobet dem Herrn is for SATB voices with a basso continuo.

Examples include:
• BWV 225 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (1726)
• BWV 226 Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (1729)
• BWV 227 Jesu, meine Freude
• BWV 228 Fürchte dich nicht
• BWV 229 Komm, Jesu, komm (1730?)
• BWV 230 Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden (?).

The funeral cantata O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, BWV 118 (1736–37?), is considered a motet despite having independent instrumental parts. The motet Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren, BWV 231, is based on a movement from Bach’s Cantata 28, though its authenticity is uncertain. For some motets, such as Ich lasse dich nicht, BWV Anh 159, Bach’s authorship is debated.

Later 18th century – present

In the late 1700s, few composers wrote motets. Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach composed a long motet called Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, blending Baroque techniques with the galant style. Mozart’s Ave verum corpus (K. 618) is an example of this genre. Rameau, Mondonville, and Giroust also wrote grands motets.

In the 1800s, some German composers continued writing motets. Felix Mendelssohn composed Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt, Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen, and Mitten wir im Leben sind. Johannes Brahms composed three motets based on biblical verses, titled Fest- und Gedenksprüche. Josef Rheinberger composed Abendlied. Anton Bruckner composed about 40 motets, mostly in Latin, including Locus iste. French composers who wrote motets include Camille Saint-Saëns and César Franck. In English, similar compositions are called anthems. Some later English composers, like Charles Villiers Stanford, wrote motets in Latin. Most of these works are a cappella, while others, such as Edward Elgar’s three motets Op. 2, are accompanied by organ.

In the 1900s, composers often deliberately copied styles from earlier times. In 1920, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed O clap your hands, a piece based on verses from Psalm 47 for a four-part choir, organ, brass, and percussion, called a motet. Carl Nielsen set three verses from different psalms as motets in Tre Motetter, first performed in 1930. Francis Poulenc set several Latin texts as motets, beginning with Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (1938). Maurice Duruflé composed Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens in 1960 and Notre Père in 1977. Other examples include works by Richard Strauss, Charles Villiers Stanford, Edmund Rubbra, Lennox Berkeley, Morten Lauridsen, Edward Elgar, Hugo Distler, F. Melius Christiansen, Ernst Krenek, Michael Finnissy, Karl Jenkins, and Igor Stravinsky.

Arvo Pärt composed motets, including Da pacem Domine (2006). Other composers who wrote motets include Dave Soldier (Motet: Harmonies of the World, with rules from Johannes Kepler), Sven-David Sandström, Enjott Schneider, Ludger Stühlmeyer, and Pierre Pincemaille.