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O Inestimable Gift - Sacred Music in honour of the Eucharist
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Konser Musik Gereja
O Inestimable Gift
Sacred Music in honour of the Eucharist
Sabtu, 09 Juni 2012 | Pukul 20.00 WIB
Gereja Katolik St. Theresia, Jakarta Pusat
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PROGRAM
Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina
Missa Brevis
- Kyrie
- Gloria
- Credo
- Sanctus–Benedictus
- Agnus Dei I-II
Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina
Ricercari VIII. Super 8 modos
- Secundi Toni
- Tertii Toni
- Quarti Toni
Domenico Bartolucci
- Panis angelicus
- Ave verum corpus
- O sacrum convivium
Lorenzo Perosi
- O salutaris Hostia
Marco Frisina
- Anima Christi
Giuseppe Liberto
- Ubi caritas
Michele Manganelli
- Adoro te devote
Domenico Bartolucci
- Pange, lingua–Tantum
ergo
Youtube: http://youtube.com/user/ijusmanis/videos
Friday, 6 April 2012
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Friday, 16 March 2012
Domenico Bartolucci
Domenico Bartolucci (born 7 May 1917) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is Director Emeritus of the Sistine Chapel Choir and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and is recognized in the field of music both as a director and a prolific composer. Considered among the most authoritative interpreters of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Bartolucci led the Sistine Chapel Choir in performances worldwide, and also directed numerous concerts with the Choir of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, including a tour of the former Soviet Union.
On 20 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the College of Cardinals. Because Bartolucci is over the age of 80, he is not eligible to vote in any future Papal conclave.
Coat of Arms of Cardinal BartolucciAt a very young age, Bartolucci entered the seminary in Florence, where he was recruited as a singer . Upon the death of his master Bagnoli, Bartolucci succeeded him as director of the Chapel of the Duomo of Florence. In those years he began to compose his first masses, motets, and organ music, as well as madrigals and chamber music.[2]
At the end of 1942 Bartolucci went to Rome in order to deepen the knowledge of sacred music. Having served as Deputy Master of the St. John Lateran, in 1947 he was appointed Master of the Liberian Choir of St. Mary Major, succeeding Licinio Refice, absent. In 1952, on the advice of Lorenzo Perosi, he was appointed Deputy Master of the Sistine Chapel.
The ensemble of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir upon the death of Perosi was in poor condition. The situation was restored, however, thanks to the commitment of Bartolucci and personal interest of Pope John XXIII. In the forty years of Bartolucci's leadership, the choir balanced the obligation of papal liturgies with tours in various countries throughout the world, including Austria, France, Belgium, the Philippines, Australia, the United States, Turkey, Poland, and Japan. In the years of the Second Vatican Council Bartolucci, against abandoning Latin, committed himself that the liturgical reform should not take a direction hostile to sacred music.[7]
The concept of music for Bartolucci is based on naturalness and spontaneity, avoiding abstractions and abstruseness. His reference points are Gregorian chant, Palestrina, and Verdi. Characteristic of Bartolucci's aesthetic conception is a respect for tradition, whose base lies in "a considerable severity of song and a certain limpid and solid polyphony", as he describes in the preface to his First Book of Motets.
On 20 October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI announced Mgr Bartolucci's appointment to the College of Cardinals in the consistory scheduled for the 20 November recognising him for his service to the Church. He was created Cardinal-Deacon of Santissimi Nomi di Gesù e Maria in Via Lata, usually referred to as Gesù e Maria. At his elevation, Bartolucci became the fourth-oldest member of the College. Because he is over the age of 80, under the terms of Pope Paul VI's 1970 motu proprio Ingravescentem Aetatem he is ineligible to vote in any future Papal conclave.[9] Bartolucci was excused from the requirement that a cardinal be or become a bishop.
On 20 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the College of Cardinals. Because Bartolucci is over the age of 80, he is not eligible to vote in any future Papal conclave.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early career
At the end of 1942 Bartolucci went to Rome in order to deepen the knowledge of sacred music. Having served as Deputy Master of the St. John Lateran, in 1947 he was appointed Master of the Liberian Choir of St. Mary Major, succeeding Licinio Refice, absent. In 1952, on the advice of Lorenzo Perosi, he was appointed Deputy Master of the Sistine Chapel.
[edit] Bartolucci and the Sistine Chapel Choir
When Perosi died in 1956, Pope Pius XII gave him the position of permanent director of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir.[3] In 1997 Bartolucci was replaced at the helm of the Sistine Chapel by Msgr. Giuseppe Liberto, an event which aroused some controversy in the context of liturgical music.[4] Among those most against the decision, motivated by Papal Master of Ceremonies Archbishop Piero Marini, was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,[5] who after he became Pope Benedict XVI, recalled Bartolucci to direct a concert in the Sistine Chapel on June 24, 2006, in which he offered music from the repertoire of sacred polyphony of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina alongside his own compositions including the motet Oremus pro Pontifice Nostro Benedicto ("Let us pray for our Pontiff Benedict"), dedicated to the Pope.[6]The ensemble of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir upon the death of Perosi was in poor condition. The situation was restored, however, thanks to the commitment of Bartolucci and personal interest of Pope John XXIII. In the forty years of Bartolucci's leadership, the choir balanced the obligation of papal liturgies with tours in various countries throughout the world, including Austria, France, Belgium, the Philippines, Australia, the United States, Turkey, Poland, and Japan. In the years of the Second Vatican Council Bartolucci, against abandoning Latin, committed himself that the liturgical reform should not take a direction hostile to sacred music.[7]
[edit] Activity as a composer
Bartolucci was also dedicated to teaching and composition. He was a child prodigy, having composed his first Mass at age 12; his best known Mass is the "Misa Jubilei," written in the Holy Year 1950.[8] The body of his work already published fills more than forty volumes and includes Masses, motets, madrigals, hymns, symphonic, organ, and chamber music, and above all a series of oratorios for soloists, chorus and orchestra. His three-act opera Brunelleschi has never yet been performed.The concept of music for Bartolucci is based on naturalness and spontaneity, avoiding abstractions and abstruseness. His reference points are Gregorian chant, Palestrina, and Verdi. Characteristic of Bartolucci's aesthetic conception is a respect for tradition, whose base lies in "a considerable severity of song and a certain limpid and solid polyphony", as he describes in the preface to his First Book of Motets.
[edit] Creation as cardinal
| Styles of Domenico Bartolucci | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | none |
[edit] References
- ^ "Catholic-Hierarchy.com, Domenico Cardinal Bartolucci". http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bbartolu.html. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ^ Fondazione Domenico Bartolucci. "It Maestro" (in Italian). http://www.fondazionebartolucci.it/maestro.html. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- ^ "Pope Names New Leader Of Sistine Chapel Choir". New York Times. December 22, 1956.
- ^ Sandro Magister (March 12, 2008). "Great Music in the Churches of Rome. But in the Vatican, They're Deaf". Mar 12, 2008. http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/210023?eng=y. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- ^ Sandro Magister (May 7, 2002). "Caso Bartolucci. Maestro, qua si cambia musica" (in Italian). L'Espresso. http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/7615. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- ^ Sandro Magister (June 27, 2006). "Musica nuova in Vaticano, non solo in segreteria di stato" (in Italian). L'Espresso. http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/67801. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- ^ Ruff, Anthony (2007). Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations. Chicago: Hillenbrand Books. p. 340 & n.7. ISBN 981-1-59525-021-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=QQ6wwr87Ld0C&lpg=PA340&dq=bartolucci%20bugnini&pg=PA340#v=onepage&q=bartolucci%20bugnini&f=false. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- ^ Sacred Music in Crisis - Cardinal Bartolucci interview
- ^ Pope Paul VI. "Ingravescentem Aetatem" (in Italian). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19701120_ingravescentem_it.html. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria (1548 – 20 August 1611), was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an accomplished organist and singer. However, he preferred the life of a composer to that of a performer.[1] He is sometimes known as the "Spanish Palestrina" because he may have been taught by Palestrina.[2]
After receiving a grant from Philip II in 1565, Victoria went to Rome and became cantor at the Collegium Germanicum founded by St. Ignatius Loyola.[8] He may have studied with Palestrina around this time, though the evidence is circumstantial; certainly he was influenced by the Italian's style. For some time, beginning in 1573, Victoria held two positions. One being at the German College and the other being at the Roman Seminary. He held the positions of chapelmaster and instructor of plainsong. In 1571, he was hired at the Collegium Germanicum as a teacher and began earning his first steady income.[9] Victoria, after Palestrina left the Roman Seminary, took over the position of maestro at the Seminary.[10] Victoria became an ordained priest in 1574. Before this he was made a deacon, but didn’t serve as deacon as long as typical deacons before becoming a priest.[11] In 1575, Victoria was appointed Maestro di Capella at S. Apollinare.[12] Many church officials would ask Victoria for his opinion on appointments to cathedral positions because of his fame and knowledge.[13] He was faithful to his position of a convent organist even after his professional debut as an organist.[14] He did not stay in Italy, however.
In 1587 Philip II honored his desire to return to his native Spain, naming him chaplain to his sister, the Dowager Empress María, daughter of Charles V, who had been living in retirement with her daughter Princess Margarita at the Monasterio de las Descalzas de S Clara at Madrid from 1581. In 1591, Victoria became a godfather to his brother Juan Luis’s daughter, Isabel de Victoria.[15] Victoria worked for 24 years at Descalzas Reales. He served there for 17 years as the empress’s chaplain until her death and then as convent organist. Victoria was also being paid much more at the Descalzas Reales than he would have earned as a cathedral chapelmaster, receiving an annual income from absentee benefices from 1587–1611. When the empress Maria died in 1603, she gave three chaplaincies in the convent, with Victoria receiving one of them. According to Victoria, he never accepted any extra pay for being a chapelmaster, and he became the organist rather than the chapelmaster.[16] Such was the esteem in which he was held that his contract allowed him frequent travel away from the convent. He was able to visit Rome in 1593 for two years, attending Palestrina's funeral in 1594. He died in 1611 in the chaplains’ residence and was buried at the convent, although his tomb has yet to be identified.
Even though Victoria is typically viewed as being the leading composer of the Roman School, the school was also heavily marked by other Spanish composers such as Morales, Guerrero, and Escobedo.[17]
Victoria was a master at overlapping and dividing choirs with multiple parts with a gradual decreasing of rhythmic distance throughout. Not only does Victoria incorporate intricate parts for the voices, but the organ is treated almost like a soloist in many of his choral pieces.[22] Victoria did not begin the development of psalm settings or antiphons for two choirs, but he continued and increased the popularity of such repertoire.[23] Victoria would reissue works that had been published previously, and would include new revisions in each new issue.[24]
Victoria published his first book of motets in 1572.[25] In 1585 Victoria wrote his Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae, a collection which included 37 pieces that are part of the Holy Week celebrations in the Catholic religion.[26]
Two influences in Victoria’s life were Giovanni Maria Nanino and Luca Marenzio. Victoria admired them for their work in madrigals rather than church music.[27] It has been speculated that Victoria took lessons from Escobedo at an early age before moving to Rome.[28]
Victoria claimed that he composed his most creative works under his patron, His Eminence Otto Cardinal von Truchsess. However, Stevenson does not believe that he learned everything about music under Cardinal Truchsess’s patronage; Victoria would like people to believe such a fact.[29] During the years that Victoria was devoted to Philip II, he expressed exhaustion from his compositional work. Most of the compositions that Victoria wrote that were dedicated to Cardinal Bonelli, Philip II, or Pope Gregory XIII were not compensated properly.[30]
Stylistically his music shuns the elaborate counterpoint of many of his contemporaries, preferring simple line and homophonic textures, yet seeking rhythmic variety and sometimes including intense and surprising contrasts. His melodic writing and use of dissonance is more free than that of Palestrina; occasionally he uses intervals which are prohibited in the strict application of 16th century counterpoint, such as ascending major sixths, or even occasional diminished fourths (for example, a melodic diminished fourth occurs in a passage representing grief in his motet Sancta Maria, succurre). Victoria sometimes uses dramatic word-painting, of a kind usually found only in madrigals. Some of his sacred music uses instruments (a practice which is not uncommon in Spanish sacred music of the 16th century), and he also wrote polychoral works for more than one spatially separated group of singers, in the style of the composers of the Venetian school who were working at St. Mark's in Venice.
His most famous work, and his masterpiece, was a Requiem Mass for the Empress Maria.[31] Also notable is the serene emotion of each of the 37 pieces that form his Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae of 1585, a collection of motets and lamentations linked to the Holy Week Catholic celebrations.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Life and career
Victoria was born in Sanchidrián in the province of Ávila, Castile around 1548 and died in 1611.[3] Victoria’s family can be traced back for generations. Not only are the names of the members in his immediate family known, but even the occupation of his grandfather.[4] Victoria was the seventh of nine children born to Francisco Luis de Victoria and Francisca Suárez de la Concha. After his father’s death in 1557, his uncle, Juan Luis, became his guardian. He was a choirboy in Ávila Cathedral. Cathedral records state that his uncle, Juan Luis, presented Victoria’s Liber Primus to the church while reminding them that Victoria had been brought up in the Ávila Cathedral.[5] Because he was such an accomplished organist, many believe that he began studying the keyboard at an early age from a teacher in Ávila.[6] Victoria most likely began studying "the classics" at St. Giles’s, a boy’s school in Ávila. This school was praised by St. Teresa and other highly regarded people of music.[7]After receiving a grant from Philip II in 1565, Victoria went to Rome and became cantor at the Collegium Germanicum founded by St. Ignatius Loyola.[8] He may have studied with Palestrina around this time, though the evidence is circumstantial; certainly he was influenced by the Italian's style. For some time, beginning in 1573, Victoria held two positions. One being at the German College and the other being at the Roman Seminary. He held the positions of chapelmaster and instructor of plainsong. In 1571, he was hired at the Collegium Germanicum as a teacher and began earning his first steady income.[9] Victoria, after Palestrina left the Roman Seminary, took over the position of maestro at the Seminary.[10] Victoria became an ordained priest in 1574. Before this he was made a deacon, but didn’t serve as deacon as long as typical deacons before becoming a priest.[11] In 1575, Victoria was appointed Maestro di Capella at S. Apollinare.[12] Many church officials would ask Victoria for his opinion on appointments to cathedral positions because of his fame and knowledge.[13] He was faithful to his position of a convent organist even after his professional debut as an organist.[14] He did not stay in Italy, however.
In 1587 Philip II honored his desire to return to his native Spain, naming him chaplain to his sister, the Dowager Empress María, daughter of Charles V, who had been living in retirement with her daughter Princess Margarita at the Monasterio de las Descalzas de S Clara at Madrid from 1581. In 1591, Victoria became a godfather to his brother Juan Luis’s daughter, Isabel de Victoria.[15] Victoria worked for 24 years at Descalzas Reales. He served there for 17 years as the empress’s chaplain until her death and then as convent organist. Victoria was also being paid much more at the Descalzas Reales than he would have earned as a cathedral chapelmaster, receiving an annual income from absentee benefices from 1587–1611. When the empress Maria died in 1603, she gave three chaplaincies in the convent, with Victoria receiving one of them. According to Victoria, he never accepted any extra pay for being a chapelmaster, and he became the organist rather than the chapelmaster.[16] Such was the esteem in which he was held that his contract allowed him frequent travel away from the convent. He was able to visit Rome in 1593 for two years, attending Palestrina's funeral in 1594. He died in 1611 in the chaplains’ residence and was buried at the convent, although his tomb has yet to be identified.
Even though Victoria is typically viewed as being the leading composer of the Roman School, the school was also heavily marked by other Spanish composers such as Morales, Guerrero, and Escobedo.[17]
[edit] Music
Victoria is the most significant composer of the Counter-Reformation in Spain, and one of the best-regarded composers of sacred music in the late Renaissance, a genre to which he devoted himself exclusively. Victoria’s music reflected his intricate personality.[18] In his music, the passion of Spanish mysticism and religion is expressed.[19] Victoria was praised by Padre Martini for his melodic phrases and his joyful inventions.[20] His works have undergone a revival in the 20th century, with numerous recent recordings. Many commentators hear in his music a mystical intensity and direct emotional appeal, qualities considered by some to be lacking in the arguably more rhythmically and harmonically placid music of Palestrina. There are quite a few differences in their compositional styles, such as treatment of melody and quarter-note dissonances.[21]Victoria was a master at overlapping and dividing choirs with multiple parts with a gradual decreasing of rhythmic distance throughout. Not only does Victoria incorporate intricate parts for the voices, but the organ is treated almost like a soloist in many of his choral pieces.[22] Victoria did not begin the development of psalm settings or antiphons for two choirs, but he continued and increased the popularity of such repertoire.[23] Victoria would reissue works that had been published previously, and would include new revisions in each new issue.[24]
Victoria published his first book of motets in 1572.[25] In 1585 Victoria wrote his Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae, a collection which included 37 pieces that are part of the Holy Week celebrations in the Catholic religion.[26]
Two influences in Victoria’s life were Giovanni Maria Nanino and Luca Marenzio. Victoria admired them for their work in madrigals rather than church music.[27] It has been speculated that Victoria took lessons from Escobedo at an early age before moving to Rome.[28]
Victoria claimed that he composed his most creative works under his patron, His Eminence Otto Cardinal von Truchsess. However, Stevenson does not believe that he learned everything about music under Cardinal Truchsess’s patronage; Victoria would like people to believe such a fact.[29] During the years that Victoria was devoted to Philip II, he expressed exhaustion from his compositional work. Most of the compositions that Victoria wrote that were dedicated to Cardinal Bonelli, Philip II, or Pope Gregory XIII were not compensated properly.[30]
Stylistically his music shuns the elaborate counterpoint of many of his contemporaries, preferring simple line and homophonic textures, yet seeking rhythmic variety and sometimes including intense and surprising contrasts. His melodic writing and use of dissonance is more free than that of Palestrina; occasionally he uses intervals which are prohibited in the strict application of 16th century counterpoint, such as ascending major sixths, or even occasional diminished fourths (for example, a melodic diminished fourth occurs in a passage representing grief in his motet Sancta Maria, succurre). Victoria sometimes uses dramatic word-painting, of a kind usually found only in madrigals. Some of his sacred music uses instruments (a practice which is not uncommon in Spanish sacred music of the 16th century), and he also wrote polychoral works for more than one spatially separated group of singers, in the style of the composers of the Venetian school who were working at St. Mark's in Venice.
His most famous work, and his masterpiece, was a Requiem Mass for the Empress Maria.[31] Also notable is the serene emotion of each of the 37 pieces that form his Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae of 1585, a collection of motets and lamentations linked to the Holy Week Catholic celebrations.
[edit] Recordings
The following are recordings of music by Tomás Luis de Victoria. As in all of his music, the texts are in Latin and drawn from the Roman Catholic liturgy.- Victoria, Lamentations of Jeremiah. The Tallis Scholars: GIMELL. CDGIM 043
- Victoria, Gesualdo, Palestrina, White, Lamentations. Nordic Voices: CHANDOS CHACONNE. CHAN 0763
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[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ O'Regan, Noel. "Victoria, Soto and the Spanish Archconfraternity of the Resurrection in Rome." Early Music 22 no. 2 (1994): 279.
- ^ Slonimsky, Nicolas. The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 1994, p. 1073.
- ^ Wojcicka-Hruza, Lucy. "A Manuscript Source for Magnificats by Victoria." Early Music 25 no. 1 (1997): p 83.
- ^ Stevenson, Robert M. "Tomas Luis de Victoria: Unique Spanish Genius." Inter-American Music Review 12 no. 1 (1991): p. 1.
- ^ Stevenson, 6.
- ^ Stevenson, 8.
- ^ Stevenson, 10–11.
- ^ Trend, J. B. The Music of Spanish History. New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation, 1965, p 158.
- ^ Stevenson , 12–13.
- ^ Slonimsky, 1073.
- ^ Stevenson, 19.
- ^ Trend, 158.
- ^ Stevenson, 25.
- ^ Stevenson, 12.
- ^ Stevenson, 24.
- ^ Stevenson, 26–27.
- ^ York: Schirmer Books, 1994, p. 1073.
- ^ Trend, 160.
- ^ Slonimsky, 1073.
- ^ Trend, 163.
- ^ Kriewald, James Arthur. The Contrapuntal Practices of Victoria. The University of Wisconsin, p. 2.
- ^ Trend, 164.
- ^ O'Regan, 283.
- ^ Wojcicka-Hruza, Lucy. "A Manuscript Source for Magnificats by Victoria." Early Music 25 no. 1 (1997): p 83.
- ^ Stevenson, 13.
- ^ Stevenson, 21.
- ^ Trend, 157.
- ^ Trend, 158.
- ^ Stevenson, 13.
- ^ Stevenson, 21.
- ^ Slonimsky, 1073.
- ^ Tomás Luis de Victoria – a 400th anniversary profile, by Edward Breen, Gramophone online, March 2011
[edit] References
- G. Edward Bruner, DMA: "Editions and Analysis of Five Missa Beata Virgine Maria by the Spanish Composers: Morales, Guerreo, Victoria, Vivanco, and Esquivel." DMA diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1980.[facsimile: University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
- Kriewald, James Arthur. The Contrapuntal Practices of Victoria. The University of Wisconsin.
- O'Regan, Noel. "Victoria, Soto and the Spanish Archconfraternity of the Resurrection in Rome." Early Music 22/2 (1994).
- The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. ISBN 002872416X
- Stevenson, Robert M. "Tomas Luis de Victoria: Unique Spanish Genius." Inter-American Music Review 12/1 (1991).
- Trend, J. B. The Music of Spanish History. New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation, 1965.
- Wojcicka-Hruza, Lucy. "A Manuscript Source for Magnificats by Victoria." Early Music 25/1 (1997).
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (3 February 1525 or 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594)[1] was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition.[2] He had a lasting influence on the development of church music, and his work has often been seen as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony.[2]
Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the northern European style of polyphony, which owed its dominance in Italy primarily to two influential Franco-Flemish composers, Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez, who had spent significant portions of their careers there. Italy itself had yet to produce anyone of comparable fame or skill in polyphony.[2]
From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was organist of the principal church (St. Agapito) of his native city, and in 1551 he became maestro di cappella at the Cappella Giulia, the papal choir at St Peter's. His first published compositions, a book of Masses, had made so favorable an impression with Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina) that he appointed Palestrina musical director of the Julian Chapel. This was the first book of Masses by a native composer: in the Italian states of his day, most composers of sacred music were from the Low Countries, France, Portugal,[3] or Spain. In fact the book was modeled on one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an exact copy of the one from the book by the Spanish composer.
During the next decade, Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome, notably St John Lateran, (1555–1560 – a post previously held by Lassus) and Sta Maria Maggiore (1561–1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel and remained at St Peter's for the rest of his life. The decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally: he lost his brother, two of his sons, and his wife in three separate outbreaks of the plague (1572, 1575, and 1580, respectively). He seems to have considered becoming a priest at this time, but instead he remarried, this time to a wealthy widow. This finally gave him financial independence (he was not well paid as choirmaster) and he was able to compose prolifically until his death.
He died in Rome of pleurisy in 1594. In keeping with the custom of that time, Palestrina was buried on the same day he died, in a plain coffin with a lead plate on which was inscribed Libera me Domine. A five-part psalm for three choirs was sung at the funeral.[4]
Palestrina's masses show how his compositional style developed over time.[2] His Missa sine nomine seems to have been particularly attractive to Johann Sebastian Bach, who studied and performed it while writing the Mass in B minor.[5] Most of Palestrina's masses appeared in thirteen volumes printed between 1554 and 1601, the last seven published after his death.[2][6]
One of his most enduring works is the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass), which according to legend was composed in order to persuade the Council of Trent that a draconian ban on the polyphonic treatment of text in sacred music (as opposed, that is, to a more directly intelligible homophonic treatment) was unnecessary.[7] However, more recent scholarship shows that this mass was in fact composed before the cardinals convened to discuss the ban (possibly as much as ten years before).[7] It is probable, however, that Palestrina was quite conscious of the need for intelligible text, in conformity with the doctrine of the Counter-Reformation,[7] and he certainly wrote in this manner from the 1560s until the end of his life. Palestrina's seemingly dispassionate approach to expressive or emotive texts could have resulted from his having to produce many to order, or from a deliberate decision that any intensity of expression was unbecoming in church music.[2]
One of the hallmarks of Palestrina's music is that dissonances are typically relegated to the "weak" beats in a measure.[8] This produced a smoother and more consonant type of polyphony which we now consider to be definitive of late Renaissance music, given Palestrina's position as Europe's leading composer (along with Lassus) in the wake of Josquin (d. 1521). The "Palestrina style" now serves as a basis for college Renaissance counterpoint classes, thanks in large part to the efforts of the 18th century composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux, who, in a book called Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus, 1725), set about codifying Palestrina's techniques as a pedagogical tool for students of composition. Fux applied the term "species counterpoint", which entails a series of steps whereby students work out progressively more elaborate combinations of voices while adhering to certain strict rules. Fux did make a number of stylistic errors, however, which have been corrected by later authors (notably Knud Jeppesen and Morris). If we attempt to apply his rules to Palestrina's own music, we will find ample instances in which they have been followed to the letter, as well as many where they are freely broken.
According to Fux, Palestrina had established and followed these basic guidelines:
It is only recently, with the discovery and publication of a great deal of hitherto unknown or forgotten music by various Renaissance composers, that we have had the means to properly assess Palestrina in historical context.[2] Though Palestrina represents late Renaissance music well, others such as Orlande de Lassus (a Franco-Flemish composer who also spent some of his early career in Italy) and William Byrd were arguably more versatile.[2] 20th and 21st century scholarship by and large retains the view that Palestrina was a strong and refined composer whose music represents a summit of technical perfection, while emphasizing that some of his contemporaries possessed equally individual voices even within the confines of "smooth polyphony." As a result, composers like Lassus and Byrd as well as Tomas Luis de Victoria have increasingly come to enjoy comparable reputations.
Palestrina was famous in his day, and if anything his reputation increased after his death. Conservative music of the Roman school continued to be written in his style (which in the 17th century came to be known as the prima pratica) by such students of his as Giovanni Maria Nanino, Ruggiero Giovanelli, Arcangelo Crivelli, Teofilo Gargari, Francesco Soriano and Gregorio Allegri. It is also thought that Salvatore Sacco may have been a student of Palestrina, as well as Giovanni Dragoni, who later went on to become choirmaster in the church of S. Giovanni in Laterano.[4]
Palestrina's music continues to be regularly performed and recorded, and to provide models for the study of counterpoint. There are two comprehensive editions of Palestrina's works: a 33 volume edition published by Breitkopf and Härtel, in Leipzig Germany between 1862 and 1894 edited by Franz Xaver Haberl, and a 34 volume edition published in the mid twentieth century, by Fratelli Scalera, in Rome, Italy edited by R. Casimiri and others.
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[edit] Biography
Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina, near Rome, then part of the Papal States. Documents suggest that he first visited Rome in 1537, when he is listed as a chorister at the Sta Maria Maggiore basilica. He studied with Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. He spent most of his career in the city.Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the northern European style of polyphony, which owed its dominance in Italy primarily to two influential Franco-Flemish composers, Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez, who had spent significant portions of their careers there. Italy itself had yet to produce anyone of comparable fame or skill in polyphony.[2]
From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was organist of the principal church (St. Agapito) of his native city, and in 1551 he became maestro di cappella at the Cappella Giulia, the papal choir at St Peter's. His first published compositions, a book of Masses, had made so favorable an impression with Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina) that he appointed Palestrina musical director of the Julian Chapel. This was the first book of Masses by a native composer: in the Italian states of his day, most composers of sacred music were from the Low Countries, France, Portugal,[3] or Spain. In fact the book was modeled on one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an exact copy of the one from the book by the Spanish composer.
During the next decade, Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome, notably St John Lateran, (1555–1560 – a post previously held by Lassus) and Sta Maria Maggiore (1561–1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel and remained at St Peter's for the rest of his life. The decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally: he lost his brother, two of his sons, and his wife in three separate outbreaks of the plague (1572, 1575, and 1580, respectively). He seems to have considered becoming a priest at this time, but instead he remarried, this time to a wealthy widow. This finally gave him financial independence (he was not well paid as choirmaster) and he was able to compose prolifically until his death.
He died in Rome of pleurisy in 1594. In keeping with the custom of that time, Palestrina was buried on the same day he died, in a plain coffin with a lead plate on which was inscribed Libera me Domine. A five-part psalm for three choirs was sung at the funeral.[4]
[edit] Music and reputation
Palestrina left hundreds of compositions, including 105 masses, 68 offertories, at least 140 madrigals and more than 300 motets. In addition, there are at least 72 hymns, 35 magnificats, 11 litanies, and four or five sets of lamentations.[2] His attitude toward madrigals was somewhat enigmatic: whereas in the preface to his collection of Canticum canticorum (Song of Songs) motets (1584) he renounced the setting of profane texts, only two years later he was back in print with Book II of his secular madrigals (some of these being among the finest compositions in the medium).[2] He published just two collections of madrigals with profane texts, one in 1555 and another in 1586.[2] The other two collections were spiritual madrigals, a genre beloved by the proponents of the Counter-Reformation.[2]Palestrina's masses show how his compositional style developed over time.[2] His Missa sine nomine seems to have been particularly attractive to Johann Sebastian Bach, who studied and performed it while writing the Mass in B minor.[5] Most of Palestrina's masses appeared in thirteen volumes printed between 1554 and 1601, the last seven published after his death.[2][6]
One of his most enduring works is the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass), which according to legend was composed in order to persuade the Council of Trent that a draconian ban on the polyphonic treatment of text in sacred music (as opposed, that is, to a more directly intelligible homophonic treatment) was unnecessary.[7] However, more recent scholarship shows that this mass was in fact composed before the cardinals convened to discuss the ban (possibly as much as ten years before).[7] It is probable, however, that Palestrina was quite conscious of the need for intelligible text, in conformity with the doctrine of the Counter-Reformation,[7] and he certainly wrote in this manner from the 1560s until the end of his life. Palestrina's seemingly dispassionate approach to expressive or emotive texts could have resulted from his having to produce many to order, or from a deliberate decision that any intensity of expression was unbecoming in church music.[2]
One of the hallmarks of Palestrina's music is that dissonances are typically relegated to the "weak" beats in a measure.[8] This produced a smoother and more consonant type of polyphony which we now consider to be definitive of late Renaissance music, given Palestrina's position as Europe's leading composer (along with Lassus) in the wake of Josquin (d. 1521). The "Palestrina style" now serves as a basis for college Renaissance counterpoint classes, thanks in large part to the efforts of the 18th century composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux, who, in a book called Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus, 1725), set about codifying Palestrina's techniques as a pedagogical tool for students of composition. Fux applied the term "species counterpoint", which entails a series of steps whereby students work out progressively more elaborate combinations of voices while adhering to certain strict rules. Fux did make a number of stylistic errors, however, which have been corrected by later authors (notably Knud Jeppesen and Morris). If we attempt to apply his rules to Palestrina's own music, we will find ample instances in which they have been followed to the letter, as well as many where they are freely broken.
According to Fux, Palestrina had established and followed these basic guidelines:
- The flow of music is dynamic, not rigid or static.
- Melody should contain few leaps between notes. (Jeppesen: "The line is the starting point of Palestrina's style."[8]
- If a leap occurs, it must be small and immediately countered by stepwise motion in the opposite direction.
- Dissonances are to be confined to passing notes and weak beats. If one falls on a strong beat, it is to be immediately resolved.
It is only recently, with the discovery and publication of a great deal of hitherto unknown or forgotten music by various Renaissance composers, that we have had the means to properly assess Palestrina in historical context.[2] Though Palestrina represents late Renaissance music well, others such as Orlande de Lassus (a Franco-Flemish composer who also spent some of his early career in Italy) and William Byrd were arguably more versatile.[2] 20th and 21st century scholarship by and large retains the view that Palestrina was a strong and refined composer whose music represents a summit of technical perfection, while emphasizing that some of his contemporaries possessed equally individual voices even within the confines of "smooth polyphony." As a result, composers like Lassus and Byrd as well as Tomas Luis de Victoria have increasingly come to enjoy comparable reputations.
Palestrina was famous in his day, and if anything his reputation increased after his death. Conservative music of the Roman school continued to be written in his style (which in the 17th century came to be known as the prima pratica) by such students of his as Giovanni Maria Nanino, Ruggiero Giovanelli, Arcangelo Crivelli, Teofilo Gargari, Francesco Soriano and Gregorio Allegri. It is also thought that Salvatore Sacco may have been a student of Palestrina, as well as Giovanni Dragoni, who later went on to become choirmaster in the church of S. Giovanni in Laterano.[4]
Palestrina's music continues to be regularly performed and recorded, and to provide models for the study of counterpoint. There are two comprehensive editions of Palestrina's works: a 33 volume edition published by Breitkopf and Härtel, in Leipzig Germany between 1862 and 1894 edited by Franz Xaver Haberl, and a 34 volume edition published in the mid twentieth century, by Fratelli Scalera, in Rome, Italy edited by R. Casimiri and others.
[edit] References
- ^ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., s.v. "Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da" by Lewis Lockwood, Noel O'Regan, and Jessie Ann Owens.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Jerome Roche, Palestrina (Oxford Studies of Composers, 7; New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), ISBN 0-19-314117-5.
- ^ Manuel Mendes, António Carreira, Duarte Lobo, Filipe de Magalhães, Fr. Manuel Cardoso, João Lourenço and Pero do Porto, among many others.
- ^ a b Zoe Kendrick Pyne, Giovanni Pierluigi di Palestrina: His Life and Times (London: Bodley Head, 1922).
- ^ Christoph Wolff, Der Stile Antico in der Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs: Studien zu Bachs Spätwerk (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1968), pp. 224–225.
- ^ a b c James Garrat, Palestrina and the German Romantic Imagination (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
- ^ a b c d John Bokina, Opera and Politics (New York: Yale University Press, 1997), pp. 129–131.
- ^ a b Knud Jeppesen, Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century, trans. Glen Haydon (with a new foreword by Alfred Mann; New York: Prentice-Hall, 1939, repr. New York: Dover, 1992).
[edit] Sources
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