Four Motets

Biblical

Nadia Boulanger required her pupils to learn to compose traditional forms, among them the motet. Written under her instruction, Copland's motets make use of biblical texts for an a cappella chorus of mixed voices. He wrote, "I think of these as student pieces that show some influence of Moussorgsky, whom I admired. I agreed to their publication with mixed emotions. while they have a certain curiosity value — perhaps people want to know what I was doing as a student — the style is not yet really mine."

-Vivian Perlis, 1998