In illo tempore (stabant autem)

Jacquet of Mantua was a composer of the High Renaissance whose motets often drew on biblical texts. This four-part sacred motet sets a passage from the Gospel of John, describing the scene at the foot of the cross. Jesus entrusts his mother to the care of his beloved disciple, and the disciple takes her into his home. The composer vividly portrays the sorrow and profound human drama of this moment through his polyphonic writing for SATB choir. The Latin text is drawn directly from scripture, giving the work a powerful and direct emotional impact.