New CD by the Choir of the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel Choir under its director Monsignor Massimo Palombella has just released a second CD recording with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. (Report of the press conference at http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/10/07/161007c.html).
It is devoted to the music of Palestrina and includes the famous six-voice Missa Papae Marcelli, the only work that Palestrina dedicated to a pope, credited with “saving polyphony” by making the text intelligible to the listener (the Council of Trent had condemned polyphony that obscured the meaning of the text). Additionally there are motets on the theme of mercy designed to complement the Holy Year.

It is not widely known that Monsignor Palombella is something of a Palestrina scholar, having carried out a lot of research into his works; so it will be interesting to hear how this is borne out in the recording. Also interesting to hear will be the manner of singing by the choir, which has already changed radically from the “bawling in the basilica”-style formerly associated with the Sistina. This new CD was, uniquely, recorded in the Sistine Chapel itself, which demands a rather more intimate style of vocal production suited to the acoustic of a much smaller building. The Sistine Chapel was chosen for the recording since it is the locale where papal celebrations took place in the time of Palestrina, the basilica of St Peter’s having not yet been completed.

Paul Inwood

Paul Inwood is an internationally-known liturgist, author, speaker, organist and composer. He was NPM's 2009 Pastoral Musician of the Year, ACP's Distinguished Catholic Composer of the year 2022, and in 2015 won the Vatican competition for the official Hymn for the Holy Year of Mercy, His work is found in journals, blogs and hymnals across the English-speaking world and beyond.

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Comments

9 responses to “New CD by the Choir of the Sistine Chapel”

  1. Fr. Edward Seton Fittin, OSB

    It’s marvelous!

    Reply
  2. Doug O'Neill

    I am very much encouraged by Msgr. Palombella’s leadership, and the change in the choir’s production is welcome.

    The claim that the Pope Marcellus Mass “saved’ polyphony is dubious; at the least, it is exaggerated. Here is a good explanation: http://hubpages.com/entertainment/The-Council-of-Trent-and-the-Saving-of-Polyphonic-Music

    Reply
  3. Michael Wurtz, CSC

    And the album ends with a recording of “Misericordes Sicut Pater” composed by Paul Inwood.

    The Editors’ Notes say that three tracks are world premieres of compositions found in the Vatican Library. I wonder which three those might be.

    Reply
    1. Paul Inwood

      @Michael Wurtz, CSC:

      And the album ends with a recording of “Misericordes Sicut Pater” composed by Paul Inwood.

      Are you sure? Amazon lists the tracks as follows:

      1. Kyrie
      2. Gloria
      3. Credo
      4. Sanctus
      5. Agnus Dei
      6. Tu Es Pastor Ovium
      7. O Bone Iesu
      8. Confitemini Domino
      9. Ad Te Levavi Oculos Meos
      10. Benedixisti, Domine
      11. Veritas Mea Et Misericordia Mea
      12. Iubilate Deo
      13. Confirma Hoc, Deus
      14. Ave Maria

      Reply
      1. Michael Wurtz, CSC

        @Paul Inwood:
        Yes, the album on iTunes has 15 tracks.
        https://itun.es/us/wnLceb

      2. Paul Inwood

        @Michael Wurtz, CSC:

        I suspect that the iTunes playlist may not represent exacty what is on the CD, which eBay also lists with only 14 tracks. And the 3:46 track duration is only half the 7:40 length of the entire hymn with choral coda.

        But in any case I have ordered a copy of the CD because it will make interesting listening.

  4. Paul Inwood

    The CD has now arrived, and there are indeed only 14 Palestrina tracks — iTunes is therefore selling its track 15 under false pretences. The presentation of the CD, as you would expect from DGG, is magnificent.

    @Doug O’Neill

    Not impressed by the article at your link. Agazzari was not only a remarkable composer in his own right (though his works mostly languish unread and unheard in the Vatican libraries), but he knew Palestrina personally. No reason on earth why he would have made up the “legend”. The DGG liner notes and footnotes agree.

    Now to settle down and listen to the music!

    The world premiere recordings are tracks 6, 8 (with adult male voices only) and 11.

    Reply
    1. Michael O'Connor

      @Paul Inwood:
      The quote from Agazzari actually says very little; it certainly doesn’t substantiate the more melodramatic tellings of the how Palestrina “saved polyphony.” And Trent decreed very little about polyphony. Craig Monson does a good job of sifting the evidence in his 2002 JAMS article, “Trent Revisited”: http://jams.ucpress.edu/content/55/1/1.full.pdf+html

      Reply
  5. Michael Wurtz, CSC

    “The world premiere recordings are tracks 6, 8 (with adult male voices only) and 11.”

    Thanks!

    Reply

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