Sicut Cervus Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina Analysis

One of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s most famous pieces from the Renaissance was Sicut Cervus, a motet that bases itself off the first two phrases from Psalm 42 (41). The piece was scored for four voices, presumably for a soprano, alto, base, and tenor, and all four voices seemed to act almost independent of each other. Obviously the existence of various voices means the piece has a polyphonic texture, but interestingly it is actually imitative polyphony, meaning that all voices have are reading essentially the same text, however in this case it sounds almost as if every voice has its own tempo and rhythm, not sharing the same with other voices. As the piece begins, there is a clear staggered entrance of the other voices, allowing for
And it is at this close (around 2:50) that the piece reaches a rather beautiful section where all the voices come together in unison around a very important word, “Deus” meaning God. This section exemplifies what it meant to write a motet at the time, that the central idea was God, this might be better seen when considering that throughout the piece it’s somewhat of a challenge to discern every word, however all the voices clearly state “Deus” at the end, reflecting on its ability to provide serenity for many people and closure for such a beautiful piece.
In the end, Palestrina was an example to follow for any composer, especially Counter- Reformist, at the time and may still be an example for composers today, and deservedly so. His music provides such a level of serenity and calm that I couldn’t help myself to stop listening, it is a glorious piece to listen to and I hope we will get a chance to listen to similar music as we go on in the