 The Motet Verbum bonum was composed around 1440 by Hermann Jakob Edlerauer. The only thing we know about him is that he was a cantor at St. Stephan's Cathedral in Vienna in the in 1440 and again 1443-44. He is represented with seven compositions (among them the motet Verbum bonum, Illustration) in a manuscript now preserved in the State Library in Munich, Germany. The manuscript was written in St. Emeram near Regensburg, Germany. This is significant because he is the only Viennese composer other than Johannes Brassart represented in this collection. In the Motet Verbum bonum, the chant melody is in the lowest voice, the middle voice moves in parallel fourths to the upper voice and is therefore not written in. This technique is known as Fauxbourdon. According to the practice of the day, the motet could be either performed a capella or together with instruments. (E. Stadler)
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