A fetching and affective little hymn setting, Jesu dulcis memoria, has been credited to the pen of Tomás Luis de Victoria for many years, though, it seems, falsely. The attribution was made by a French dilettante (the son of one of Napoleon's marshals) in the late nineteenth century, and attested by Pedrell in the Victoria Opera omnia and several generations of performances. However, stylistic analysis has shown conclusively that as far as Victoria is concerned, it belongs in "Ye Olde Spuriosity Shoppe."

This status notwithstanding, the piece may be appreciated on its own merits. It sets, in a fairly simple manner, the first stanza of a hymn attributed (again probably spuriously) to St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The hymn, a centerpiece in Bernard's reputation as Doctor mellifluous, celebrates the sweetness of Jesus' presence; in English it is usually rendered "Jesus, the very thought of thee." Liturgically, it is assigned to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (on the Sunday between January 1 and Epiphany). This anonymous setting gives notes only for the first stanza; presumably all the odd stanzas would be sung to this music, with the even ones alternating in plainchant. The music contains small moments of imitation, but remains primarily homophonic. The most salient feature of the setting is the richness of harmonic palette, which uses twenty-six accidental inflections in a mere twenty-three breves of music, including a rare D sharp. Whoever composed this little piece certainly understood the proto-Baroque pathos of harmonic language.

© Timothy Dickey, All Music Guide