Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina on Music Theory Print

Canticum Canticorum (Palestrina)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Canticum Canticorum was written in the year 1584. This work, as with many of Palestrina’s works around this time, was dedicated to Pope Gregory XIII. The work can, however, also be seen as a social statement which challenged what music was commonly accepted in the church at the time. It is assumed that during its composition, he kept in mind that other church composers had lost their jobs for composing madrigals, and he, also being guilty of this fault, would ‘repent’ by composing music that celebrates divine love. His illustration of passion in this piece exceeds that of any of his other sacred works. Through the work, Palestrina insists upon the independence of musicians, firstly through the composition thereof, and secondly through admitting awareness of what he has created - a musical setting of profane love songs, but ultimately a celebration of divine love. Palestrina famously declared: “Sic enim rem ipsam postulare intelligebam” - indicating that he realised that he was creating something new which may not be suitable for use in the church. He did, however, continue to refer to the motets as sacred.

Missa brevis (Palestrina)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

The Missa brevis is written for four voices: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. The Benedictus, however, is for three voices, while the second Agnus Dei is for five. It is written in the key of F mode with B flat. Movements: * Kyrie * Gloria * Credo * Sanctus * Benedictus * Agnus Dei 1 and 2 The work has frequent tempo changes characteristic of Palestrina’s style, governed entirely by the changing meaning and significance of the text being sung. Accordingly, there is a greater feeling of phrase than of beat and rhythm in the work. Its unity of form reflects the peace and serenity that Palestrina had in his faith. How the mass came to be called Missa brevis is uncertain as the work is no shorter than a typical four-voice Palestrina mass. Haberl suggests that the term brevis was chosen because each movement opens on a breve. However, this was common practice at the time and may not merit note.

Missa L'homme armé a 5 (Palestrina)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kyrie#

The Kyrie section can be divided into Kyrie I, Christe, and Kyrie II. *Kyrie I The texture starts small and all five voices eventually enter in imitation. It is duple meter and contains an abundance of thirds and sixths. The Cantus Firmus enters in the tenor in very long note values. *Christe It is in duple meter and shows imitative polyphony. The voices also enter here in a well regulated manner and again the Cantus Firmus enters in long notes in the tenor. It includes a descending and ascending interval of a fifth, heard first in the bass, then the first tenor, alto and soprano, with the true augmented version in the second tenor. *Kyrie II The second Kyrie is written in imitative polyphony in duple meter. Continuing elements of the song appear in the first tenor, soprano, alto and bass, with the second tenor introducing the Cantus Firmus in diminution with halved note-values.

Missa Papae Marcelli

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style#

The Missa Papae Marcelli consists, like most Renaissance masses, of a Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus/Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, though the third part of the Agnus Dei is a separate movement (designated “Agnus II”). The mass is freely composed, not based upon a cantus firmus, paraphrase, or parody. Perhaps because of this, the mass is not as thematically consistent as Palestrina’s masses based on models. It is primarily a six-voice mass, but voice combinations are varied throughout the piece; Palestrina scores Agnus II for seven voices, and the use of the full forces is reserved for specific climactic portions in the text. It is set primarily in a homorhythmic, declamatory style, with little overlapping of text and a general preference for block chords such that the text can clearly be heard in performance, unlike many polyphonic masses of the 16th century. As in much of Palestrina’s contrapuntal work, voices move primarily in stepwise motion, and the voice leading strictly follows the rules of the diatonic modes codified by theorist Gioseffo Zarlino.

Missa Tu es Petrus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Palestrina frequently employed parody technique, reworking old material in newer works. The text of the model is in Latin and is based on :

Analysis#

The mass consists of seven movements, standard for a choral mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei 1 and Agnus Dei 2. In the opening of the majority of the main movements in the mass, Palestrina copies almost exactly the notation of the motet from the original work. The added features give the piece a more, “fugal” feel. The work is antiphonal in its structure and is meant to convey an overwhelming sense of joy. The work requires singers to balance respect for the religious nature of the work, while exhibiting a sense of glee. The major key also adds to its blissful character. The music combines vivacity with quiet and tender touches that suit its intended performance venue, i.e. a church/cathedral. In general, its tempi are reasonably calm, so the sense of excitement and ecstasy ensues in its transformation through performance. In AllMusic, Donato Mancini wrote, “Palestrina’s style has virtually become a stand-in for sacred-sounding music, partly because his was the last generation of composers dedicated to a purely contrapuntal style. His own stylistic aim seems to have been to sum up and bring to a peak of refinement and clarity the accomplishments of those who came before him. Missa Tu es Petrus is one of those works where that aim is most perfectly achieved.”

O magnum mysterium (Palestrina)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

O magnum mysterium is a six-voice motet in the Aeolian mode in two musical parts. It was published in 1569 in Rome and formed a part of a collection of motets for five-, six- and seven voices, known as his Liber Primus Motettorum. Palestrina wrote it for Christmas to express the joy and awe of the shepherds as they celebrated Christ’s birth. Palestrina wrote this motet during times when complaints were being made about the plainness of religious works. He wrote it as a response against the complaints. He furthered the bounds of complexity by writing his choral compositions for six parts, and yet he made the Catholic liturgical music less complex by using fewer melismas and letting the voices sing the same syllables at the same time. O magnum mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. Palestrina used the first half of the third and fourth Responsories of the Matins on Christmas Day. It is a simple polyphonic work in which most of the voices sing the same syllables on the same beats.

Sicut cervus (Palestrina)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The motet is a setting of Psalm 42:1-3. The Psalm was a prescribed tract for the blessing of the water (font) on Holy Saturday, The first edition which has survived in full is a posthumously published collection of motets, Motectorum quatuor vocibus, … which appeared in Venice in 1604. However, it appears that a lost edition of Sicut Cervus was published in Rome during the composer’s lifetime. It is now one of Palestrina’s most anthologized works and regarded as a model of Renaissance polyphony.

Stabat Mater (Palestrina)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The text predates Palestrina’s composition and dates as far back as the 13th century. The author of the text is unknown. Some possible authors include: St. Bonaventure, Pope Innocent III, and Jacopone da Todi, a Franciscan friar. The liturgical text is centered on Mary’s suffering at the Crucifixion of Christ. It has both a regular meter – frequently trochaic – and an intricate rhyme scheme, both of which are qualities that most academics date back to the 12th century. Palestrina’s Stabat Mater appears to have been written for Pope Gregory XIV, who was Pope from 1590 until his death in 1591. Therefore, the work may have been composed during this time– a period which was within the final years of Palestrina’s life. Since then, the work was initially guarded closely by the choir for which it was written. The first part was performed annually on Palm Sunday at a slower tempo. In Rome in 1770, the English historian Dr. Burney was able to obtain a copy of the work. This acquisition produced the first printed edition in 1771 in London, in “La Musica Che Si canta annualmente nelle Funzioni della Settimana Santa nella Capella Pontificia”. Since then, the composition has had many editions, including one by the German composer Richard Wagner in 1877.