Palestrina's Fourth Book of Motets was dedicated to his patron Pope Gregory XIII and published in Rome in 1584. He took as his text The...

Palestrina's Fourth Book of Motets was dedicated to his patron Pope Gregory XIII and published in Rome in 1584. He took as his text The Song of Songs (also known as The Song of Solomon). The 29 motets, written in an age of religious tumult and Counter-Reformation, evoke the love of Christ in devotional music of chamber-like refinement and joy. This recording also includes plainchant antiphons related to the texts, and the motets Afferentur Regi and Quam pulchri sunt gressus tui.