Sistine Chapel Choir
The Sistine Chapel Choir, as it is generally called in English, or officially the Coro della Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina in Italian, is the Pope's personal choir. It performs at papal functions in the Sistine Chapel and in any other church in Rome where the Pope is officiating, including St. Peter's Basilica. One of the oldest choirs in the world, it was constituted as the Pope's personal choir by Pope Sixtus IV (from whom both the choir and the chapel in which it performs take their names). Although it was established in the late 15th century, its roots go back to the 4th century and the reign of Pope Sylvester I.
The choir's composition and numbers have fluctuated over the centuries. However, the modern choir comprises twenty men (tenors and basses) and thirty boys (sopranos and altos). The men's choir (Cantori) is composed of professional singers. The members of the boys choir (Pueri Cantores) are not paid when performing at papal functions, but receive a free education at their own school in Rome, known as the Schola Puerorum. Since the late 20th century, in addition to its papal duties, the choir has undertaken international tours, participated in radio and television broadcasts, and recorded for Deutsche Grammophon.
History
Precursors
Papal patronage of music, and especially singing, dates to the 4th century when, according to 9th-century written accounts,
Establishment and early history
Pope Sixtus IV, who reigned from 1471 to 1484, established the Cappella Musicale Pontificia as his permanent personal choir. It sang in the chapel of the Apostolic Palace which Sixtus had renovated to become his private chapel, originally called the Cappella Magna and later known as the Sistine Chapel. The choir was and remains all-male and sang without musical accompaniment (a cappella). It initially consisted of between 16 and 24 singers with the men singing the bass, tenor, and alto parts and pre-adolescent boys singing the soprano parts, although from the mid-16th century, adult castrato singers began to replace the boy singers. The choir was to become the most important center of Roman music. Josquin des Prez, one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, served as its composer and directed the choir from 1486 to 1494.[3]
In April 1545, the members of the choir sent a delegation to the choir's
Julius III was also keen to reduce the size of the choir which had been bloated by the patronage system and contained many members who were singers in name only. In an undated motu proprio c.1553, he decreed that no new singers would be taken on until the choir was reduced by attrition to 24 members, after which new members were required to pass a strict audition. However, Julius III defied his own reforms when in January 1555, he appointed his favourite composer, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, to the choir without an audition. Palestrina's time in the choir, which he also conducted, was cut short when the austere Paul IV ascended to the papacy. In a motu proprio promulgated on 30 July 1555, he decreed that married men could no longer be members of the choir. Palestrina and two other married singers, Domenico Ferrabosco, and Leonardo Barré, were dismissed with pensions. Nevertheless, according to musicologist Richard Sherr, Palestrina "more than any other composer was to personify music in the Sistine Chapel."[5]
Like his predecessors and his successor, Magnansco was a high-ranking cleric and not a musician. He had been the
18th and 19th centuries
During
The
The composer and bass singer, Giuseppe Baini, was admitted to the choir in 1795 and unanimously elected as its director in 1818, a position he held until his death in 1844. In 1828, he published an influential two-volume treatise on the life and works of Palestrina, one of the choir's most famous composers. According to music historian Richard Boursy, the book enhanced not only the reputation of Palestrina but also that of Baini and the choir itself, adding to the mystique it still held in the first half of the 19th century.[8][9][6]
Following Baini's death the choir remained without a permanent director ("perpetual director" in the choir's terminology) for over 30 years. The
During the 19th century, the ever-increasing popularity of opera made it difficult for the choir to attract highly skilled singers who could make more money on the operatic stage. As early as 1830, Mendelssohn complained of the quality of the singing.[6] The problem was exacerbated as the supply of castrato singers, the mainstays of the virtuoso soprano parts, began to dry up. With the unification of Italy in 1871, the castration of boy singers was made illegal. In a group photograph of the choir taken in 1898 (see upper-left), there were six castrati choristers left, apart from Mustafa who had retired from singing—Domenico Salvatori (1855–1909), Alessandro Moreschi (1858–1922), Giovanni Cesari (1843–1904), Vincenzo Sebastianelli (1851–1919), Gustavo Pesci (1833–1913), and Giuseppe Ritarossi (1841–1902).[12]
20th century
Domenico Mustafà's leadership of the choir and the careers of its castrati singers came to a close beginning in 1898 when Lorenzo Perosi was appointed joint perpetual director of the choir. At the time Perosi was only 26, but already had a considerable reputation as a composer of sacred music. Mustafà had thought that Perosi would carry on the musical traditions of the choir that had guided him. However, Perosi was an adherent of the Cecilian Movement which eschewed the operatic and theatrical style of church music which had been ascendant on the 18th and 19th centuries. He was also strongly against using castrati in the choir and wished to replace them with boy singers. At Perosi's urging, a Papal decree of 3 February 1902 by Pope Leo XIII stipulated that henceforth castrati would no longer be accepted into the choir. Mustafà retired as perpetual director of the choir in January 1903 leaving Perosi the sole director. The remaining castrati gradually died, retired, or were pensioned off. Moreschi, the youngest of the six remaining castrati choristers photographed in 1898, remained on the choir's books until his retirement in 1913.[12][13][12]
The ascendance to the papacy of Perosi's mentor and fellow Cecilianist, Pius X in August 1903 further cemented his position. Under his direction the last remaining castrati were phased out, and a stable 30-voice boys choir was added. The choir's music focused once again on Gregorian chant and the polyphonic music of the Renaissance period, especially that of Palestrina. Perosi served as the choir's director until his death in 1956, although his tenure was periodically interrupted by bouts of mental illness.[12][13][14]
Perosi was succeeded by Domenico Bartolucci who had served as his deputy since 1952. Bartolucci reorganised the choir's musical arrangements, adding some of his own works to the repertoire, including his Missa de Angelis, and further increased the emphasis on Palestrina's music, on which he was an authority. He also strengthened the adult choir, created a dedicated rehearsal space for them, and established a school for the choir's boy singers.[15] The choir school, known as the Schola Puerorum, was established in 1963 and is located in a large palazzo on Via del Monte della Farina which also serves as the administrative and rehearsal base of the Sistine Choir. In addition to training in singing and music, it provides the standard Italian education curriculum for children from the ages of 9 to 13. The boys are not paid for singing at papal functions, but receive their education at the school free of charge.[16]
Bartolucci was deeply opposed to the changes in liturgy and church music brought about by
The fault lies above all with the pseudo-intellectuals who have engineered this denigration of the liturgy, and thus of music, overthrowing and despising the heritage of the past with the idea of obtaining who knows what advantage for the people.[17]
21st century
In 2010 Pope Benedict XVI, who had been Bartolucci's sole supporter on the Curia when he was dismissed in 1997,[17] appointed Massimo Palombella to replace Liberto as the choir's musical director.[16]
Under Bartolucci, the choir had begun participating in radio and television broadcasts as well as regular international tours, including a 17-city tour of the United States in 1986.
More controversial was the choir's performance at the
Past members
Past members of the choir include:
- Andrea Adami da Bolsena
- Gregorio Allegri
- Jacques Arcadelt
- Giuseppe Baini
- Odoardo Ceccarelli
- Giovanni Cesari
- Costanzo Festa
- Bruno Filippini
- Antimo Liberati
- Alessandro Moreschi
- Domenico Mustafà
- Marbrianus de Orto
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
- Marc'Antonio Pasqualini
- Josquin des Prez
- Domenico Salvatori
- Giuseppe Santarelli
- Gaspar van Weerbeke
- Annibale Zoilo
Former boy singers
Former boy singers of the choir, most of whom became opera singers as adults include:
- Nazzareno De Angelis[29]
- Salvatore Baccaloni[30]
- Bruno Beccaria
- Vittorio Grigolo[31]
- Renato Rascel[32]
- Giuseppe Sabbatini[33]
- Pietro Spagnoli[34]
Recordings
- Habemus Papam (2014) – live recordings of the music sung by the Sistine Chapel Choir before, during and after the conclave which elected Pope Francis in 2013: the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff, the entry of the Cardinal-Electors into the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis's Mass with the Cardinal-Electors, and the Mass in St. Peter's Square for his coronation on 19 March 2013. Label: Deutsche Grammophon
- Cantate Domino (2015) – Gregorian chants and music by Tomas Luis de Victoria. Label: Deutsche Grammophon (the choir's first studio album)
- Palestrina (2016) – motets by Palestrina and his Missa Papae Marcelli. Label: Deutsche Grammophon
- Veni Domine (2017) – Advent and Christmas music by Jacobus Clemens. Label: Deutsche Grammophon
- O Crux Benedicta (2019) – Lent and Holy Week music by Palestrina, Tomas Luis de Victoria,
See also
- Cappella Giulia, the choir of St. Peter's Basilica
- Tra le sollecitudini, Pope Pius X's 1903 motu propriowhich detailed new regulations for the performance of liturgical music in the Roman Catholic Church
References
- ^ Otten, Joseph (1912). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica (1998). "Schola cantorum". Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ISBN 1285458192
- ^ ISBN 0191590231
- ^ Sherr, Richard (November 1994). "Competence and Incompetence in the Papal Choir in the Age of Palestrina". Early Music, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 606-618, 620, 624, 626-629. (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d Boursy, Richard (Summer 1993). "The Mystique of the Sistine Chapel Choir in the Romantic Era". The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 277-329. Retrieved 8 November 2018 (subscription required).
- ISBN 0300072236
- The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. Online version retrieved via newadvent.orgJanuary 30, 2020.
- ^ Manton, Jonathan (2010). "Giuseppe Baini: Memorie storico-critiche della vita e delle opere di Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina". Yale University Library. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- s.n.(29 January 2012). "When Domenico Mustafà “betrayed” by singing for the Triumvirates". L'Osservatore Romano. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- s.n. (16 February 1878). "Rome". Dwight's Journal of Music, p. 181
- ^ ISBN 1904341772
- ^ ISBN 8859122821(in Italian)
- ISBN 0520292448
- ^ Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ a b Staff (18 October 2010). "New Director for Sistine Chapel Choir". Zenit. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ a b c Magister, Sandro (21 July 2006). "I Had a Dream: The Music of Palestrina and Gregory the Great Had Come Back". L'Espresso (English translation by Matthew Sherry). Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Reich, Howard (29 September 1986). "Sistine Chapel Choir Delivers Classic Show". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- s.n. (22 September 2014). "Sistine Chapel Choir makes its Hong Kong debut but misses mainland". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ a b Giuffrida, Angela (19 November 2017). "Sistine Chapel breaks 500-year gender taboo to welcome soprano into the choir". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Westminster Abbey (25 May 2018). "Sistine Chapel Choir joins Choir of Westminster Abbey for Evensong tonight". Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Brunson, Matthew (23 September 2017). "The Pope's Choir". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Pentin. Edward (9 May 2018). "How the Vatican Became Enmeshed in the Met Gala". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Roberts, Hannah (12 July 2019). "Maestro quits pope’s choir as financial scandal strikes wrong note". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ Sorgi, Gregorio (3 July 2018). "Vatican choir involved in financial scandal, Italian newspaper reports". The Tablet. Retrieved 30 January 2020
- New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Gagliarducci, Andrea (21 January 2019). "What is happening with the Sistine Chapel Choir?". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ^ Gomes, Robin (10 July 2019). "Director of papal Sistine Chapel Choir concludes his term of office". Vatican News. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Antolini, Bianca Maria (1987). "De Angelis, Nazzareno". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. 33. Treccani. Online version retrieved 2 March 2020 (in Italian).
- New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ Venegoni, Marinella (25 April 2012). "«Arrivederci Rascel» piccolo grande mito". La Stampa. Retrieved 2 March 2020 (in Italian).
- ^ Fernandes, Cristina (27 February 2004). "Prefiro ser um patinho feio que depois se transforma num cisne!". Público. Retrieved 2 March 2020 (in Portuguese).
- ^ Royal Opera House. "Pietro Spagnoli, baritone". Retrieved 2 March 2020.
Further reading
- Annibaldi, Claudio (February 2011). "'The singers of the said chapel are chaplains of the pope': Some remarks on the papal chapel in early modern times". Early Music, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 15-24 (subscription required)
External links
- Official website of the Sistine Chapel Choir
- Official website of the Schola Puerorum
- Transcript and photographs from "The Pope's Choir", an interview by Charlie Rose with members of the Sistine Chapel choir and its director Massimo Palombella which aired on 60 Minutes in December 2016
- Video: The Sistine Chapel Choir singing Palestrina's Sicut cervus (official YouTube channel of Deutsche Grammophon)