Dixit Dominus septimi toni

Giovanni Gastoldi's Dixit Dominus septimi toni is a setting of Psalm 109, a traditional Vespers Psalm. It is written for an unusual five-part choir of ATBBB with basses doubling the tenor line an octave lower, or as ATBarBarB. The text, in Latin, speaks of God's dominion and the promise of eternal priesthood. Gastoldi, a prolific composer of secular and sacred music in the late Renaissance, typically wrote in a clear, syllabic style ideal for congregational singing. This sacred motet follows that tradition, with its rich vocal texture lending a powerful sonority to the psalm's pronouncements of divine authority and triumph.