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Ut Phebi radiis
(Ut Phoebi radiis)

Motet for four voices by Josquin Desprez (c. 1455-1521)

Edited by Peter Woetmann Christoffersen
Department of Musicology, University of Copenhagen

Download music as PDF (6 pp.).

Source: Motetti libro quarto, O. Petrucci, Venezia 1505 (RISM 1502/2) f. 6-6v (Superius), f. 37v (Tenor), f. 70-70v (Altus), f. 102 (Bassus).

The only source for Ut Phebi radiis from Josquin’s lifetime is Ottaviano Petrucci’s Motetti libro quarto, which was printed in four part-books in Venice in 1505. As Jaap van Benthem has demonstrated, Josquin’s own version of the motet in choir-book format was probably notated with three voices only (cf. Jaap van Benthem: ‘A Waif, a Wedding and a Worshipped Child. Josquin’s Ut phebi radiis and the Order of the Golden Fleece’, Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 37 (1987) pp. 64-81; pp. 69-70). The original tenor voice would have been accompanied by canon prescriptions using signs and text, which indicated the interval and the distance between the entries and where and how long the comes voice should remain on its last note. Obviously, this procedure was not feasible in printed part-books. The customers expected ready-to-use music without having to understand a perhaps cryptic canon prescription, and the small format made it impractical for both the teno and bass parts to be sung from the same book. Therefore, Petrucci’s music editor took care to prepare resolutions of canons or – as here – to silently dissolve the canon into two printed voice parts (cf. Bonnie J. Blackburn: ‘Petrucci’s Venetian Editor: Petrus Castellanus and his Musical Garden’, Musica disciplina 49 (1995) pp. 15-45). This ending’s long notes on c (consisting of a dotted longa, a dotted maxima and another maxima-value) seem confused in notation and lack two breves to reach the final note, a longa on f. On the other hand, the tenor’s long final notes in the first section of the motet seem logical considering the structuring of the canon around the number six (they consist of a longa, a maxima and a dotted maxima, or 2+4+6 = 12 brevis values). Therefore, if we can assume that the comes voice in the second section ought to proceed in a way similar to the first section, the ending will be threepart, as the bassus will then be five breves shorter than the other voices. It causes the c’s to sound while they are needed to legitimize the fourths appearing in the other three voices, but leaves the stage free for the fauxbourdon-like ending.

Text

As in other motets, the text falls into two sections, addressing Mary and Jesus. The use of classical hexameters and references to antique and biblical subjects suggest the author’s ambitions in terms of Latin erudition. What makes the text into something special, in particular for those who were close to the teaching of music, is that it incorporates syllables and words that represent sounding notes. The first six lines of each section start with solmization syllables that are more or less successfully incorporated into the sentences. The first line quotes only the syllable ut, the second line adds re, and so on until the syllables name the entire ascending scale segment of six notes that makes up a hexachord. In the second section, the text starts from the top with the syllable la, and in its sixth line the full, descending hexachord is recited in the same way. The text is thus a construction with the number six as the basic element (2 x 6 lines of six metrical feet – hexameters, which use words to build formations of six tones – hexachords). Each section ends with a seventh line, a punch line, with the conclusion of the previous accumulation of statements. In the first section, it is the Virgin Mary who outshines all comparisons, and in the second section, the praise culminates in a prayer to Jesus to remember those who sing (and hear).

I
Ut Phebi radiis soror obvia sidera luna,
Ut reges Salomon sapientis nomine cunctos,
Ut remi ponthum querentum velleris aurum,
Ut remi faber instar habens super aera pennas,
Ut remi fas solvaces traducere merces,
Ut remi fas sola Petri currere prora,
Sic super omne quod est regnas, O Virgo Maria.
II
Latius in numerum canit id quoque celica turba,
Lasso lege ferens eterna munera mundo:
La sol fa ta mina clara prelustris in umbra,
La sol fa mi ta na de matre recentior ortus,
La sol fa mi re ta quidem na non violata,
La sol fa mi re ut rore ta na Gedeon quo,
Rex, O Christe Jesu, nostri Deus alte memento.

Translation:

I
As the moon, sister of Apollo, with her rays [rules] the stars on her path,
as Solomon [rules] the kings in the name of the wise,
as the oar belonging to those seeking the Golden Fleece [rules] the sea,
as the artisan with wings as oars [rules] the air,
as [it is] the task of the oar to transport saleable wares,
as [it is] the task of Peter’s oar to steer the one ship,
so you, o virgin Maria, rule all that is.

II
Far and wide the heavenly host sings this in verse
bringing gifts to an exhausted world according to eternal law:
La sol fa ta – the diamond shining in the darkness,
La sol fa mi ta na – recently born by the mother,
La sol fa mi re ta na – truly unblemished
La sol fa mi re ta na – as [the fleece of] Gideon by the dew,
King, O Christe, Jesus, high God, remember us.

In the first section Josquin makes great use of the first solmization syllable of the hexachord ut, which can start a series of comparisons “as ...”, in which the given syllables with a little imagination can find a place. In the second section the row of syllables goes backwards – starts with la – and this is not so easy to deal with. After the first two lines, the solmization syllables can no longer be integrated into the meaning of the text, but must, along with the two filler syllables (“ta na”) that are good to sing, stand as word music that begins each praise. Even without a meaningful content in parts of the lines, the text is rich in antique and biblical allusions and evokes an increasing intensity in the praise of< Mary and Jesus.

In the first section strong images from antiquity are included in the comparisons: Here is the moon goddess Luna, Apollo’s sister (Phebus/Phoebus (the radiant) is Apollo’s most important epithet), Jason and the Argonauts from the widespread myth search for the Golden Fleece, and the craftsman Daidalos who built the labyrinth in Knossos and with his son Ikaros made wings to fly out of the labyrinth. Solomon belongs to the Old Testament, while the one ship that Peter’s oar steers is the Christian church that must look after the souls (cargo/goods). The second section describes the birth of Jesus with a reference to the Book of Judges, where Gideon asks for a sign and lays a sheepskin on the ground. After the first night the fleece had become wet from the dew, while the ground around and below was dry, the following morning the ground was wet, while the fleece was untouched. This story was interpreted as a foreshadowing of Mary’s immaculate conception.

Further on the motet, see Peter Woetmann Christoffersen, ‘Hvad enhver kordreng skal kunne. Betragtning af motetten Ut Phebi radiis af Josquin Desprez’ Musik & Forskning 28 (2003) s. 97-118.
English version: ‘What every choirboy should know. Considering the motet Ut Phebi radiis by Josquin Desprez’, 2023, PDF 22 pp.