Beati omnes qui timent Dominum must be considered one of Morales’s most attractive works: its sunny disposition is in many ways rather distinct from his usually rather more serious style, creating a sound reminiscent of his distinguished Dutch contemporary Clemens non Papa. (Since the motet is attributed to Morales in a Toledo Cathedral manuscript dating from his tenure as maestro de capilla, his authorship must be secure, however.) The mostly imitative six-voice texture is punctuated with moments of near-homophony, for instance at ‘beatus es, et bene tibi erit’ in the first part, and especially the hoped-for ‘Peace upon Israel’, evoked by lengthened note values in the final minute of the piece.
from notes by Stephen Rice © 2008
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