Stephen Futrell, director of choral activities, has edited and published three modern editions of classical motets.
The motets, for soloists, chorus and chamber orchestras, were published by National Music Publishers in California. The motets were composed by Anna Amalia Herzogin von Sachsen (1739-1807), the Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
During the Classical period, women played musical instruments or sang in the parlor, but they generally were not composers. As Duchess, von Sachsen published her “Divertimento” for piano-forte. Her court was culturally influential and is credited by scholars for the eventual development of German singspiel.
Futrell found the original manuscripts of the motets in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, and the bulk of the work comprised his doctoral dissertation. The motets are based upon the texts of three Marion antiphons, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Regina Coeli, and Salve Regina.