Improperium expectavit cor meum

This motet takes Palestrina’s Offertory for Palm Sunday as a musical starting point. The same words of foresakenness from the Psalms are set here, and certain harmonies and melodic contours from Palestrina’s music are freely recomposed and reflected upon without ever being directly quoted. Solo voices and duets alternate with the chorus, recounting grief in search of deliverance. © Edmund Finnis