Missa Papae Marcelli

The Missa Papae Marcelli is today best-known exhibition of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. It takes its name from Pope Marcellus II, who served as Pope in April 1555 for three weeks. The fair was traditionally sung at the papal coronation, to John Paul I and his successors did without this ceremony.

Like most Renaissance masses is the Missa Papae Marcelli of a Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. It is set in six parts for the most part, with the doubly occupied tenor and bass voices. The second, final Agnus Dei deviates from this rule and requires seven votes, with two sopranos, two altos, one tenor and two basses. Unlike other musical settings of the Ordinary of the Palestrina Missa Papae Marcelli is free composes and does not contain a cantus firmus or a parody of a specified topic.

Effect story

The date of origin of the fair is set to about 1562. It was published in 1567 in Palestrina's second book fair. Your title may be pointed out that Pope Marcellus II on Good Friday 1555, the third day of his three -week pontificate, the singers of the papal chapel summoned and informed them that the music for Holy Week their solemn character should be reasonable and that the words are reproduced as understandable as possible.

Since the end of the 16th century, circulated a legend, according to which the Council of Trent was about to ban polyphonic church music because of the obscurity of words, and that Cardinal Carlo Borromeo by the beauty of Palestrina's music and its simple, declamatory style of this project was dissuaded. This hypothesis was arrested in 1607 by the composer and music theorist Agostino Agazzari continued by Jesuit musicians of the 17th century and persisted through the following centuries. In his biography of Palestrina in 1828, the historian Giuseppe Baini Palestrina, referred to as the "savior of polyphony ." Also Hans Pfitzner's opera Palestrina, premiered in 1917, is based on this understanding of the Tridentine decisions. However, there is no evidence that the council a total ban on polyphony intended or could be dissuaded by Palestrina Mass of this project.