Ecce, amica mea

Maistre Jhan’s setting of Ecce, amica mea for SATB voices is a masterful exploration of the Song of Songs text. The music opens with a gently flowing homophonic texture, allowing the rich sonorities of the four parts to speak clearly. The composer adeptly captures the devotional and amorous language of the Latin text, depicting the beloved’s arrival and the call to come away. The motet shifts from depicting the lover’s approach with words like ‘saliens in montibus’ to a more intimate conversation, before embracing the springtime imagery of the second part. The arrival of flowers and the scent of the vine signal the passing of winter, prompting a fervent invitation, ‘Surge, amica mea, propera, speciosa mea, et veni’.