The Ecclesiasticae Cantiones of 1578 form the first important collection of sacred polyphonies by Ludovico Balbi, opening a composition career that ended with the Psalmi ad Vesperas canendi per annum, published in 1594. The Ecclesiasticae Cantiones contain 21 motets for cantus, altus, tenor, and bassus on Proprium Missae texts, three for each of the four Advent Sundays and for the three Sundays in Septuagesima, in Sexuagesima, and in Quinquagesima.