An accessible, expressive duet from the high Renaissance, “Maria Magdalena” works well with various combinations of voices and/or instruments. Moments of emotional and musical contrast foreshadow the drama of the Baroque period. Shen’s carefully prepared edition provides excellent opportunities for musical performance and education.

Composer’s Notes

“Maria Magdalena et altera Maria” is by Sulpitia Lodovica Cesis (1577-after 1619), an Italian composer, lutenist and nun. As a nun composer, Cesis found creative ways to evade strict church rules, even using instruments like the cornett and trombone in her music. In 1619, she published Motetti Spirituali, a collection of motets for two to twelve voices. “Maria Magdalena et altera Maria” is a small-scale, unaccompanied duet from this publication, and is one of the shortest pieces in the collection.

This elegant duet is a good choice for treble choirs (including college, adult, high school and advanced middle school), especially for those with a small number of singers. Doubling of the vocal parts by instruments, such as flutes or recorders, or adding chordal support with an organ, can help support the singers and is appropriate. The work was originally composed for cantus and bassus. For this edition, the pitch has been transposed up the interval of a minor third to accommodate two treble voices.

All tempo, dynamic and breath indications are editorial.

– Xinke Shen

Text

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
went to the place of the sepulcher.
“Jesus, whom you seek, is not here:
He is risen, as he said.
He goes before you into Galilee:
there shall ye see him.”

– Matthew 28:1, 6-7, trans.

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