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• Assumpta est Maria (early 16th century)

Assumpta est Maria (early 16th century)

for 4 or 5 voices or instruments.

This fine motet is taken from Ms. 1872 of the Royal Library in Copenhagen, a collection copied around 1541 for the wind band of the Danish court. As is the case with other ‘vocal’ pieces in the manuscript, no text is underlaid. The tenor part has the plainsong melody for the Vespers in festo Assumptionis BMV. It seems fairly certain from one or two crudities in the vagant (e.g. bar 31-2) that this part was an afterthought, and that the piece was originally in four parts; the manuscript contains other examples of pieces with added fifth parts.
Leaving aside some minor reservations about the added part, the piece works very well on wind instruments, especially as the ranges of the parts are quite modest. While purists might prefer to omit the vagant, with th right scoring it can add richness to the texture: for instance, if with the right reeds and trombones are used, the vagant will work better on the latter.
In this edition the original note values have been halved throughout. A few editorial accidentals are printed small above the stave, applying to the one note only.