Salve regina [174]

Cristóbal de Morales

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SR174 Vita dulcedo 4 vv ; [2.p.] Ad te suspiramus 4 vv ; [3.p.] Et Jesum 4 vv ; [4.p.] O clemens 4 vv ; [5.p.] O dulcis virgo Maria 4 vv

Type

Motet

Scores

[1] Vita dulcedo

Polyphonic ensemble SATB

C-C1; A-C3; T-C4; B-F4. Alternatim setting. “Salve” intonation in T. Except for an anticipatory statement of the “salve” motto in T, chant,[1] primarily in breves and semibreves, is relegated to C and supported by melodic/rhythmic motives associated with “vita dulcedo” and “et spes nostra” that permeate the three lower voice throughout 1.p. For subsequent partes chant permeates the texture. Paired imitation with plainsong in the upper voice introduces 2.p., “Ad te suspiramus”; however, both voices of paired imitation that opens 5.p. include chant. The imitative texture of the third and fourth partes is replete with the appropriate plainsong. A descending four-note motive primarily cast in semibreves, appropriated from chant (“lacrimarum valle”), depicts the “vale of tears” (mm. 59-75). Morales concludes the antiphon with a sequential pattern of descending thirds in each of the overlapping voices (“virgo Maria,” mm. 164-170)[2]. Declamatory text setting prevails. Final d.

1. Breve Instrucción de canto llano ordenada por Luys de Villafranca, (Seville: Sebastián Trujillo, 1565). For transcription of Salve regina chant, see MRM 9, pp. 70-2.

2. Josquin des Prez’s conclusion of Nymphes des bois (La Deploration sur la mort de Johannes Ockeghem) with descending thirds (“Requiescat in Pace. Amen.) may have been the model for Morales. See NJE, Vol. 29:18. For additional information concerning Josquin’s influence upon Morales and specifically this Salve regina, see Bernadette Nelson, “Josquin in the Music of Morales: Musico-Rhetorical Devices in Salve Regina and Other Works” Treasures of the Golden Age: Essays in Honor of Robert M. Stevenson, edited by Michael O’Connor and Walter Aaron Clark (Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press, 2012): 295-320.
[2] Ad te suspiramus

Polyphonic ensemble SATB

[3] Et Jesum

Polyphonic ensemble SATB

[4] O clemens

Polyphonic ensemble SATB

[5] O dulcis virgo Maria

Polyphonic ensemble SATB

Description

In OpBP 40 “there is a newly composed final verse setting all three of the last phrases [verses 7, 8 & 9] of the antiphon…. It is likely that this verse was recomposed for performance in a particular Portuguese institution.” Bernadette Nelson, “From Anchieta to Guererro: The Salve Regina in Portuguese Sources and an Unknown Early Spanish Alernatim Setting,” Revista Portuguesa de musicologia nova série 2019: 119, nt 21.


External link:
CPDL 20204 [Choral Public Domain Library]

Associated people

Cristóbal de Morales - Composer

Creation place and date

No information.

Associated sources

Sung texts

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Salve, regina, mater misericordiae;

Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae.

Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.

Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens,

O pia,

O dulcis virgo Maria.

Bibliography

Modern editions

[Antología musical ; siglo de oro de la música litúrgica de España]

Elústiza, J. B. de et Castrillo Hernández, G. (éd.), 1933, Antología musical ; siglo de oro de la música litúrgica de España: polifonía vocal siglos XV y XVI, Barcelona http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb42975715x (consulté le 12 novembre 2025).
(n° 16)

[Monumentos de la música española 34]

Morales, C. de, 1971, Opera omnia, Anglès H. (éd.), Roma.
(n° 64)

References

No information.

Contributors

Harry Elzinga - Project manager ; Scientific editor

Ailin Arjmand - Collaborative work

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Salve regina [174], in RicercarDataLab [https://ricercardatalab.cesr.univ-tours.fr/works/2123/] (accessed 21 January 2026).

Last modification: Dec. 2, 2025