The Cappella Giulia, officially the Reverend Musical Chapel Julia of the Sacrosanct Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, is the choir of St. Peter's Basilica that sings for all solemn functions of the Vatican Chapter, such as Holy Mass,

Lauds Lauds is a canonical hour of the Divine office. In the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours it is one of the major hours, usually held after Matins, in the early morning hours. Name The name is derived from the three last psalms of the psalter (148, ...

, and Vespers, when these are not celebrated by the Pope (for functions celebrated by the Pope, the Sistine Chapel Choir sings instead). The choir has played an important role as an interpreter and a proponent of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.

History

Pope Gregory I (590–604) is credited with establishing the first papal ''schola cantorum'' at the

Basilica of St. Peter The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a Church (building), church built in the Renaissance architecture, Renaissanc ...

, after the model of the guild-like papal schola at St. John Lateran. This choir remained in Rome during the Avignon Papacy (1309–1378) and was merged with the Avignon papal choir upon the Pope's return to Rome.

Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...

(1471–1484) transferred all papal functions and the papal choir to his newly built chapel, now known as the Sistine Chapel, while providing for a small choir of eight singers for the chapter functions at St. Peter's. On 19 February 1512, Julius II (1503–1513) issued a Bull completely reorganizing the Vatican capella (hence the name "''Julia''" in Latin, "''Giulia''" in Italian). He enlarged its revenue and its size to twelve men and twelve boys, so that it could serve as a sort of preparatory school for the papal choir, on the plan of the ancient schola. Among the Cappella Giulia's choir masters were esteemed names such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1551–1554 and 1571–1594),

Giovanni Animuccia Giovanni Animuccia ( – March 1571)Lockwood and O’Regan, ''Animuccia, Giovanni,'' Grove Music Online. was an Italian composer of the Renaissance who was involved in the heart of Rome's liturgical musical life. He was one of Giovanni Pier ...

, Francesco Soriano, Stefano Fabri,

Orazio Benevoli Orazio Benevoli or Benevolo (19 April 1605 – 17 June 1672), was a Franco-Italian composer of large scaled polychoral sacred choral works (e.g., one work featured forty-eight vocal and instrumental lines) of the mid-Baroque era. He was born ...

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

Pietro Raimondi Pietro Raimondi (December 20, 1786, Rome – October 30, 1853) was an Italian composer, transitional between the Classical and Romantic eras. While he was famous at the time as a composer of operas and sacred music, he was also as an innovat ...

, Salvatore Meluzzi, and Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. The capella was disbanded in 1980 and replaced temporarily by a choir directed by the Spanish Monsignor Pablo Colino Paulis (''Magister ad nutum'') to continue to perform the key functions of the previous choir. In this new choir, called the Musical Chapel of the Sacrosanct Patriarchal Vatican Basilica, unlike the previous capella, the boy choristers were replaced by female voices, when they sang on major holidays (Easter, Christmas, and Saints Peter and Paul). In 2006 the choir was again reorganized, retaining the addition of women's voices, under the current choir master, the Canadian Father Pierre Paul,

O.M.V. The Oblates of the Virgin Mary (Italian: ''Oblati di Maria Vergine'') is a religious institute of priests and brothers founded by Bruno Lanteri (1759–1830) in the Kingdom of Sardinia in the early 19th century. The institute is characterized by a z ...

In May 2008 the original title "Cappella Giulia" was newly restored by the Vatican Chapter, and Rev. Pierre Paul was officially appointed as Choir master (''Magister ad nutum Capituli'') with a formal act. "See Cappella Giulia, Wikipedia (Italian). On 7 April 1994, the Cappella Giulia participated in the Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

conducted by Gilbert Levine in the

Sala Nervi The Paul VI Audience Hall ( it, Aula Paolo VI) also known as the Hall of the Pontifical Audiences is a building in Rome named for Pope with a seating capacity of 6,300, designed in reinforced concrete by the Italian architect Pier Luigi Ner ...

at the Vatican. The concert was broadcast throughout the world.

References

{{authority control Vatican City culture Italian choirs Catholic music St. Peter's Basilica Pope Julius II

History

See also

References