This motet was commissioned by the Oxford-based early music consort Antiquum Documentum, who requested a setting of the Marian Christmas antiphon ‘Nesciens Mater’. I was moved by the text’s portrayal of the Virgin Mary as both nurturing and resilient, reflecting her strength as a mother in bearing the Saviour of the world, the King of angels.

Nesciens Mater is my own minimalist homage to Renaissance polyphony, inspired by the writing of Renaissance masters such as Tallis, Mouton, and Victoria. It begins with a dark, chant-like figure, which blossoms into intricate, weaving polyphonic lines which are developed through modal and rhythmic transformations. The music reaches its peak on the word “angelorum”, welcoming the Saviour of the world into the kingdom of heaven.