Hodie Beata Virgo

Peter Philips’s Hodie Beata Virgo is a five-part motet for SSATB voices, setting a Latin text drawn from the Gospel account of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. The music opens with imitation, the upper voices introducing the melodic material which is then taken up by the lower voices, creating a rich texture. Philips masterfully weaves the voices together to depict the joy and solemnity of the occasion. The text speaks of the Blessed Virgin Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple, and Simeon, filled with the Holy Spirit, taking the child into his arms and blessing God for eternity. Philips’s setting honours the sacred narrative with a contrapuntal richness and clear harmonic direction.