There are few – some may argue none – who can match Palestrina’s composition, and his ars perfecta, in full form here with his motet Sicut Cervus, based on Psalm 42, published posthumously in Venice in 1604:
Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus.
As the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Whose theme fits well with today’s psalm:
O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
But here be Voces8, and their own ars perfecta rendition of Palestrina:
