Motet (French mot: "word") is a vocal composition style that has experienced various changes over the ages.
It is usually a Latin religious choral music piece, although it can also be a secular composition or a work for soloist(s) with instrumental accompaniment, written in any language and performed with or without a choir.The motet was founded in the early 13th century as an adaptation of earlier music to a new text (i.e., "word").
These were short sections of organum, a 13th-century and earlier form consisting of a plainchant melody in the tenor, above which one, two, or three simultaneous melodies were added; unlike other organum, all the voice parts in descant clausulae were set in short, repeated rhythmic patterns called rhythmic modes.Two or even three sections were given a text while composing motets from descant clausulae.
Although the early motets were typically written in Latin and meant for church use, bilingual motets (French–Latin, English–Latin) based on secular and holy themes, or a combination of both, were popular later.
Rhythmic patterns grew increasingly diverse and free, while rhythmic modes went out of favour.Instruments seemed to play the lower vocal parts as an accompaniment to a singer's rendition of the top portion, allowing the singer to focus on the upper part.Secular motets were mostly serious in substance (e.g., on historical matters) and were employed for ceremonial events in the 14th century.
This pattern frequently coincided, although not always, with the melody's recurrence.Motets were often sung in all vocal parts during the second half of the 15th century.
