Regina caeli [042]

Antoine Busnoys

Full title / Other titles

RC042 Regina caeli 4 vv

Type

Motet

Scores

Regina caeli

Polyphonic ensemble STTX

[S]-C1; [Ct]-C2; T-C3; Altertenor-C4. The two lower voices, T and Altertenor, carry the chant (App. 3) in canon at the fourth for which the imitation of pitches is generally strict but not the rests. The cantus firmus in the T is transposed to C and where the untransposed chant on F would be expected in the Altertenor, Busnoys places the chant in the seventh mode on G creating a dichotomy between C and G.[1] Preparation for the final cadence focuses on G, confirmed by a corona over what becomes the penultimate chord; the antiphon closes on C. For the repeated melismatic phrase attached to “portare” Busnoys halves the note values and for repetition in the final “alleluia” sesquialtera proportion is used. Except for the initial phrase “regina celi” in syllabic style the remainder of the setting reflects melismatic text setting particularly in the two upper voices.[2] Final C.

1. The range of the Regina caeli chant with final F and a b♭ encompasses the hexachord f-d’ (excluding the two lower neighbors) in intervallic structure that fits comfortably with the transposition to C (later labeled Ionian by Glareanus) as well as mode 7 on G.

2. Busnoys’s motet may be the earliest Marian antiphon to include canon. For additional information regarding the composer’s two settings of Regina celi see Antoine Busnoys, Collected Works, The Latin Texted Works, edited by Richard Taruskin, Vol. 5, Pt. 2, in MMR, (New York: The Broude Trust, 1990), 81-7.

Associated people

Antoine Busnoys - Composer

Creation place and date

No information.

Associated sources

Sung texts

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Regina caeli laetare, alleluia;
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia,
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

***

The Trope:

Alle Domine nate matris Deus alme nobis confer praestaque vivere:
Quam [quoniam] te decet laus honor O Domine qui de morte surgebas rex pie:
Fac nos tecum surgere, alleluia.

Bibliography

Modern editions

[Busnois, 1987]

Busnois, A., 1987, Regina Caeli I & II, Eckert M. (éd.), Lustleigh, Newton Abbot, Devon, England.
(pp. 8-12)

[Busnoys CW2]

Busnoys, A., 1990, Collected Works. Part 2: The Latin-Texted Works, Taruskin R. (éd.), New York.
(n° 13)

[Van Ockeghem tot Sweelinck 1]

Smijers, A. (éd.), 1949, Van Ockeghem tot Sweelinck: nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis in voorleben, Amsterdam.
(n° 5)

References

No information.

Contributors

Harry Elzinga - Project manager ; Scientific editor

Ailin Arjmand - Collaborative work

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Regina caeli [042], in RicercarDataLab [https://ricercardatalab.cesr.univ-tours.fr/works/1591/] (accessed 26 January 2026).

Last modification: Nov. 18, 2025