Lauda Jerusalem

Contents

Polychoral motet, with violins, clarion and bass continuo
Francesc Valls can be regarded as a key composer for Catalan baroque music, both on account of the importance of the post he held and his intellectual open-mindedness, which led him to take an interest in what was being done in the rest of Europe. Practically all his work is religious, except for a few cantatas and 'tonos humanos'. In the polychoral works, the usual thing was for the harp to provide the general continuo, with the harp alone accompanying the first choir and the organ alone the second and third choirs, as is indicated in the parts for the Mass 'Scala Aretina'. The violone, the archlute and perhaps a second organ accompanied the violins if there were any. If any parts in the second or third choir were missing, the voices could be replaced by instruments such as the shawm, sackbut or bajón, depending on the compass.
The motet we are now publishing is closely related, as regards composition and instrumentation, to the mass 'Scala Aretina'.