Mary has held a central position in Christianity since the dawn of the church. As early as 250 AD, prayers were being written to her, and her position was solidified by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD as Theotokus, or “Birthgiver of God.”
In the first half of the 17th century especially, composers preferred the often much more elaborate hymns of praise to Mary, either cobbled together from various Biblical passages, or freely written based upon either Biblical events or Church dogma.
All of these pieces were recorded using editions of original manuscripts.
