Alma Redemptoris Mater

This Marian votive antiphon, set here for ATB voices, is traditionally sung during Advent and Christmastide, and at Compline throughout the year. Dufay's setting, in a style typical of the early Renaissance, frames the Latin text with a soaring melodic line in the highest voice, supported by the lower voices in imitative and homorophonic textures. The lyrics address the Virgin Mary as the 'Mother of the Redeemer', the 'heavenly portal', and 'star of the sea', imploring her aid for a fallen people and recalling her miraculous conception of Christ, asking for mercy for sinners.