The Classical Music Book

48

T

he Protestant reformer

Martin Luther influenced

sacred music not only in

the new Protestant churches, but

also, as a result of the Counter-

Reformation, in Roman Catholic

rites. The Council of Trent, an

ecumenical meeting of senior

members of the Church in the

northern Italian town of Trent

between 1545 and 1563, issued

guidelines for sacred music that

restrained dissonance, curbed

excessive ornamentation, and

refined liturgical polyphony. The

composer who responded most

exquisitely to this new call for

purity was Giovanni da Palestrina.

New demands

Luther was an accomplished singer

and loved music, which, together

with the power of the printing

press to disseminate his ideas, was

key to the success of his reforms.

In 1524, his first published hymn,

“Ein newes Lied wir haeben an”

(“We’re raising a new song”) was a

street ballad about the death at the

stake in Brussels of two adherents

to Protestant reform. Set to a

familiar tune, it was far removed

from the rich polyphony and

instrumental brilliance of Roman

Catholic music. Its simple appeal

spoke directly to many who felt

alienated by the Church’s love

of wealth and lavish ritual.

Popular, accessible music

became a potent vehicle for

spreading ideas and rallying

support and was also the hallmark

of services in the new reformed

church. Luther and the French

Protestant reformer John Calvin

encouraged the singing of hymns

to tunes that everyone knew.

Old traditions

This emphasis on simplicity was in

sharp contrast to Roman Catholic

practice. The less educated would

have had the greatest difficulty in

following the Masses in a cathedral

or ducal chapel of the time. This

was a problem that the Roman

Catholic churchman, humanist,

and scholar Bernardino Cirillo

recognized. In 1549, he wrote:

“In our times musicians have put

all their work and effort into the

composition of fugues (where the

voices make staggered entries), so

that while one voice sings ‘Sanctus’

another has ‘Sabaoth,’ and yet one

more sings ‘Gloria tua.’ Howling,

Giovanni da Palestrina Probably born in the Italian^

town of Palestrina in 1525,

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

had strong family connections to

nearby Rome. After his mother’s

death when he was about 11, he

became a chorister at the city’s

Santa Maria Maggiore church.

In his late teens, Palestrina

returned to his hometown to

become the organist at the

cathedral. When the Bishop of

Palestrina, Cardinal Giovanni

Maria del Monte, was elected

Pope Julius III in 1550, the

composer went back to Rome as

director of the Capella Giulia: he

dedicated his Missa Ecce

sacerdos magnus to Julius in

1554. The next year he gained
      a place in the papal choir at the
      Sistine Chapel and went on to
      hold several top musical posts.
      His music includes madrigals
      and more than 105 masses and
      50 motets.

SIMPLIFICATION OF POLYPHONY

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Simplification of polyphony

BEFORE

c. 1540 In the motet Inviolata,

integra et casta es Maria, the

Italian composer Costanzo

Festa uses canonic Flemish

style to great effect. Festa was

much admired and imitated

by Palestrina.

1545 Franco-Flemish

composer Nicolas Gombert

publishes Musae Jovis, a

deliberately archaic piece, as

a tribute to Josquin Desprez.

AFTER

1610 Claudio Monteverdi

returns to polyphony and

the stile antico (“old style”)

with Missa in illo tempore.

c. 1742 J.S. Bach performs his

arrangement of Palestrina’s

Missa sine nomine (159 0).

Other key works

1562 Missa Papae Marcelli

1570 Missa brevis

1572 Missa Tu es Petrus

1584 Pulchra es (motet)

1590 Stabat Mater (motet)

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