The summers are sleepy at St. John's Catholic Newman Center in Champaign, IL. We serve college students and when they take off for the summer, it gets REAL quiet.

I always struggled to find simple, yet beautiful pieces to sing with only two people since I worked with just a cantor. I began to take two-part excerpts from Renaissance Mass Ordinaries (e.g. a Benedictus from a Lassus Mass was my first foray), re-set them with English Eucharistic texts, and used them as post-Communion meditations. I started to dig up motets to set, using literal, yet elegant singing translations.

Years later, I have dozens of these settings for nearly every liturgical occasion and context, all available here at englishmotets.com.

The project is directed mostly at Catholic musicians who want to expose their congregations to the beauty of Renaissance polyphony but also believe that the use of the vernacular may be a safe way to introduce this music to people in the pews who may balk at pieces in Latin. In addition, choir directors will find many pieces for small choirs, some of it easy and accessible for polyphonic neophytes, and others that will prove satisfying for advanced singers.

It's my hope that non-Catholic churches and maybe some high school choir programs may benefit from this site, as well!

The best part is that scores will be added each month; with thousands of sacred pieces in the polyphonic repertoire, there are no concerns that I'll run out of pieces to adapt!

Over 200 files have been uploaded, in various keys, voicings, liturgical seasons and parts of the Mass. You can search by title or use the dropdown menus to select keywords that will modify search results. We're striving to make the site as accessible as possible, so please let us know if something is less than intuitive!

Right now you can see a one-page preview of every piece on the site. It's the hope that once you see the wide selection, the beautiful engraving of the scores and the ease of use, you'll want to see and use the full scores!

The subscription model could hardly be easier:

• one-time payment

That's it. One payment and you and your church/school can take advantage of these scores until the Internet disappears.

The pricing model we use looks like this:

• The subscription model could hardly be easier. It's a one-time payment of $30
• Full access to all the scores... forever
• That's it. One payment and you and your church/school can take advantage of these scores until the Internet disappears.