![Sistine Chapel Choir depicted by Ingres, 1848](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Sistine_Chapel_Choir_depicted_by_Ingres%2C_1848.jpg)
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
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its name ...
and in any other church in Rome where the Pope is officiating, including
St. Peter's Basilica
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 built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
. One of the oldest choirs in the world, it was constituted as the Pope's personal choir by
Pope 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 ...
(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
Pope Sylvester I (also Silvester, 285 – 31 December 335) was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The acco ...
.
The choir's composition and numbers have fluctuated over the centuries. However, the modern choir comprises twenty men (
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
s and
basses
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass ...
) and thirty boys (
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
s and
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
s). 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
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
.
History
Precursors
Papal patronage of music, and especially singing, dates to the 4th century when, according to 9th-century written accounts,
Pope Sylvester I
Pope Sylvester I (also Silvester, 285 – 31 December 335) was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The acco ...
constituted company of singers, under the name of ''schola cantorum''. The ''schola'' was reorganized by
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...
during his reign (590–604). The purpose of the Gregorian ''schola'' was to teach both singing techniques and the existing
plainsong
Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgy, liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in La ...
repertory, which at the time was passed down by oral tradition. Under Pope Gregory the course of study was said to be nine years. When
Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
fled to Lyon in the 13th century, he provided for the ''scholas continuance in Rome by turning property over to it. When
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon in 1309, he formed his own choir in Avignon.
Gregory XI
Pope Gregory XI ( la, Gregorius, born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pop ...
brought the papal court back to Rome in 1377 bringing with him his choir which consisted largely of French singers and amalgamated it with what was left of the old ''schola cantorum''.
Establishment and early history
Pope 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 ...
, 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
The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the V ...
which Sixtus had renovated to become his private chapel, originally called the ''Cappella Magna'' and later known as the
Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its name ...
. The choir was and remains all-male and sang without musical accompaniment (''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
''). 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
A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...
singers began to replace the boy singers. The choir was to become the most important center of Roman music.
Josquin des Prez
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...
, one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, served as its composer and directed the choir from 1486 to 1484.
In April 1545, the members of the choir sent a delegation to the choir's ''
maestro di cappella
(, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...
'' at the time, Ludovico Magnasco, petitioning for a new constitution. It was argued that new constitution was needed because all previous copies had been destroyed in the
1527 sack of Rome. Written largely "from memory" with a few additions, it was completed on 17 November 1545. Five years later, the singers rebelled against Magnasco and appealed to
Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...
. They accused him of appointing singers without papal permission and without an audition. The most egregious of such appointments was Ottavio Gemelli who was later suspended for thievery. They also complained that Magnasco held back the salaries of several singers without justification and prohibited others from even entering the Sistine Chapel. In November 1550, Julius III ousted Magnansco as ''maestro di cappella'' and replaced him with
Girolamo Maccabei.
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
In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept.
In Catholic canon law, it refers to a do ...
'' 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
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina ( – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading ...
, to the choir without an audition. Palestrina's time in the choir, which he also conducted, was cut short when the austere
Paul IV
Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pap ...
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
Domenico Maria Ferrabosco (14 February 1513 – February 1574) was an Italian composer and singer of the Renaissance, and the eldest musician in a large prominent family from Bologna. He spent his career both in Bologna and Rome. His surviving m ...
, 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."
Like his predecessors and his successor, Magnansco was a high-ranking cleric and not a musician. He had been the
Bishop of Castro del Lazio The Roman Catholic Diocese of Castro del Lazio was a residential bishopric from 600 to 1649 and is now a Latin Catholic titular see under the shortened name Castro. and was the
Bishop of Assisi
The Italian Catholic Diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino ( la, Dioecesis Assisiensis-Nucerina-Tadinensis) in Umbria, has existed since 1986. In that year the historic Diocese of Assisi, known as the birthplace of Francis of Assisi, was ...
from 1543. The situation changed in 1586 when
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...
issued a
Papal bull which reorganized the choir's structure and finances. It established the College of Singers as a legal entity, required that the ''maestro di cappella'' be a singer elected by his peers, and entrusted the secular welfare of the choir to a "cardinal protector".
18th and 19th centuries
During
their first trip to Italy, the 14-year-old
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
and his father
Leopold
Leopold may refer to:
People
* Leopold (given name)
* Leopold (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons''
* Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
arrived in Rome on 11 April 1770. It was
Holy Week
Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...
, and that evening they attended a performance of
Allegri's ''
Miserere'' in the Sistine Chapel. Allegri, who had been a singer in the Sistine Chapel Choir, had composed the piece in 1638. A complex nine-part choral work, the Allegri ''Miserere'' was considered one of the choir's most famous pieces and was performed during the ''
Tenebrae
Tenebrae (—Latin for "darkness") is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total ...
'' service on the Wednesday and Friday of every Holy Week. The score was closely guarded, and its publication was forbidden by the choir on pain of
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
, although
Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...
,
King John V of Portugal
Dom (title), Dom John V ( pt, João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as the Magnanimous (''o Magnânimo'') and the Portuguese Sun King (''o Rei-Sol Português''), was King of Portugal from 9 ...
, and the composer
Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, O.F.M. Conv. (24 April 1706 – 3 August 1784), also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the period ...
were known to have authorized copies. According to multiple biographies of Mozart and based largely on accounts by his father, the young Mozart wrote down the score from memory after hearing it at the 11 April performance. He later declaimed it to one of the choir's singers who recognized it immediately, a feat which caused a sensation at the time.
The
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
in the early 19th century almost led to the disintegration of the choir. The armies of the
Papal states
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
were defeated by the French forces who occupied Rome and placed the Pope under house arrest. Travel to Italy, especially for those from the countries at war with Napoleon, became difficult. The number of foreign visitors who once flocked to Rome to hear the choir in the 18th century drastically declined. Following Napoleon's defeat at
Waterloo and the renewed interest in Italian history and culture fueled by the writers of the
Romantic Era
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, foreign travelers returned to Rome, and hearing a performance by the choir, especially during Holy Week, was considered on important stop on their tour.
![Alessandro Moreschi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Alessandro_Moreschi.png)
The composer and
bass singer,
Giuseppe Baini
Abbate Giuseppe Baini (21 October 1775 – 21 May 1844) was an Italian priest, music critic, conductor, and composer of church music.
He was born in Rome. He was instructed in composition by his uncle, Lorenzo Baini, and afterwards by G. Jann ...
, 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
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...
, 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.
Following Baini's death the choir remained without a permanent director ("perpetual director" in the choir's terminology) for over 30 years. The
revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states
The 1848 Revolutions in the Italian states, part of the wider Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, were organized revolts in the states of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italia ...
and the establishment of the short-lived
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
ushered in a period of disruption for the choir. It was suspended under the Roman Republic. When the Republic fell,
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
returned to Rome, and the choir resumed its activities. However, four of its members had sung in a ''
Te Deum
The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...
'' on 9 February 1849 in thanksgiving for the Republican victory—Alessandro Montecchiani, Giovanni Poli, Alessandro Chiari and
Domenico Mustafà
Domenico Mustafà (16 April 1829 – 17 March 1912) was an Italian castrato singer, composer and choir director.
Life
Domenico Mustafà was born in the comune of Sellano,Capture of Rome
The Capture of Rome ( it, Presa di Roma) on 20 September 1870 was the final event of the unification of Italy (''Risorgimento''), marking both the final defeat of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX and the unification of the Italian Peninsula ...
permanently ended the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
and caused the suspension of the
First Vatican Council
The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...
. The choir finally received a perpetual director in 1878 when Pius IX appointed Mustafà to the post. Mustafà, who had entered the choir in 1845, had been a virtuoso soprano castrato in his prime and was also a composer and skilled conductor.
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
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...
complained of the quality of the singing. 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
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century Political movement, political and social movement that resulted in the Merger (politics), consolidation of List of historic stat ...
in 1871, the castration of boy singers was made illegal. In a group photograph of the choir taken in 1898, there were six castrati choristers left, apart from Mustafa who had retired from singing—
Domenico Salvatori
Domenico Salvatori (27 September 1855 – 11 December 1909) along with Alessandro Moreschi, Domenico Mustafà and Giovanni Cesari, was one of the famous Castrato, castrati singers of the late 19th century.
Born in Anagni, he first started as a c ...
(1855–1909),
Alessandro Moreschi
Alessandro Moreschi (11 November 1858 – 21 April 1922) was an Italian chorister of the late 19th century and the only castrato to make solo recordings.
Early life
Alessandro Moreschi was born on 11 November 1858 to Luigi Lorenzo Moreschi (1840 ...
(1858–1922),
Giovanni Cesari
Giovanni Cesari (25 June 1843 – 10 March 1904) was an Italian singer with a ''soprano acuto'', or high soprano voice.
Together with Alessandro Moreschi, Domenico Salvatori and Domenico Mustafà, Cesari was a famous castrato singer of the late ...
(1843–1904), Vincenzo Sebastianelli (1851–1919), Gustavo Pesci (1833–1913), and Giuseppe Ritarossi (1841–1902).
20th century
![184a Lorenzo Perosi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/184a_Lorenzo_Perosi.jpg)
Domenico Mustafà's leadership of the choir and the careers of its castrati singers came to a close beginning in 1898 when
Lorenzo Perosi
Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi (21 December 1872 – 12 October 1956) was an Italian composer of sacred music and the only member of the Giovane Scuola who did not write opera. In the late 1890s, while he was still only in his twenties, Perosi was a ...
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
The Cecilian Movement for church music reform began in Germany in the second half of the 1800s as a reaction to the liberalization of the Enlightenment.
The Cecilian Movement received great impetus from Regensburg, where Franz Xaver Haberl had a ...
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
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
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.
The ascendance to the papacy of Perosi's mentor and fellow Cecilianist,
Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...
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
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...
and the
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
music of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
period, especially that of
Palestrina
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...
. Perosi served as the choir's director until his death in 1956, although his tenure was periodically interrupted by bouts of mental illness.
Perosi was succeeded by
Domenico Bartolucci
Domenico Bartolucci (7 May 1917 – 11 November 2013) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the former director of the Sistine Chapel Choir and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and was recognized in the field of music b ...
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. 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.
Bartolucci was deeply opposed to the changes in liturgy and church music brought about by
Vatican II
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and 1 ...
(1962-65) which resulted in the introduction of folk and popular music to the liturgy, a trend continued under
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
. In 1997, at the instigation of Piero Marini, the master of pontifical ceremonies, Bartolucci was replaced as director of the choir with
Giuseppe Liberto
Giuseppe Liberto (Chiusa Sclafani, 21 August 1943) is an Italian priest, choral director and composer. He was director of the Choir of the Sistine Chapel 1997–2010.
Life
In 1997 Pope John Paul II called upon Liberto to serve as the Director ...
. In a 2006 interview with ''
L'Espresso
''L'Espresso'' () is an Italian weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is ''Panorama''. Since 2022 it has been published by BFC Media.
History and profile
One of Italy's foremost newsmagazines, ''l ...
'', Bartolucci discussed what he considered the deleterious effect that Vatican II and subsequent developments had had on church music:
21st century
In 2010
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
, who had been Bartolucci's sole supporter on the
Curia
Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
when he was dismissed in 1997, appointed
Massimo Palombella
Massimo Palombella (Turin, 25 December 1967) is an Italian Salesian priest and director of the Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina, succeeding Giuseppe Liberto, and before him Domenico Bartolucci and Lorenzo Perosi
Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi ( ...
to replace Liberto as the choir's musical director.
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. It was a trend that continued under Palombella. The choir made its first tour of Asia in 2014 and released three studio albums on the
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
label between 2015 and 2017. June 2012 marked the first time in its history that the Sistine Choir performed jointly in a papal function with another choir from outside the Vatican. The occasion was a Papal Mass celebrated in St Peter's Basilica by Pope Benedict sung by the Sistine Choir and the
Westminster Abbey Choir
Westminster Abbey Choir School is a boarding preparatory school for boys in Westminster, London and the only remaining choir school in the United Kingdom which exclusively educates choristers (i.e. only choirboys attend the school). It is loca ...
. The two choirs also sang together at Westminster Abbey in May 2015 and again in 2018.
Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli, Cavaliere OMRI (; born 4 June 1966) is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best known for her interpretations of the music of Bellini, Handel, Mozart, Rossini and Vivaldi, as well as for her ...
become the first woman to perform inside the Sistine Chapel in November 2017 when she sang with the Sistine Choir in
Pérotin
Pérotin () was a composer associated with the Notre Dame school of polyphony in Paris and the broader musical style of high medieval music. He is credited with developing the polyphonic practices of his predecessor Léonin, with the introdu ...
's ''Beata Viscera''. In September of that year, the choir made its first visit to the United States in 30 years, performing at
St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, the
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a large minor Catholic basilica and national shrine in the United States in Washington, D.C., located at 400 Michigan Avenue Northeast, adjacent to Catholic University.
...
in Washington, D.C., and the
Detroit Opera House
The Detroit Opera House is an ornate opera house located at 1526 Broadway Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Grand Circus Park Historic District. The 2,700-seat venue is the home of productions of the Detroit Opera and a variety of o ...
.
More controversial was the choir's performance at the
Met Gala
The Met Gala, or Met Ball, formally called the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. It is popularly r ...
in May 2018 where many of the celebrity guests dressed in costumes that according to ''
The National Catholic Register'' were "deemed by many to be a sacrilegious mockery of the Church." The affair also sparked complaints from some of the boys' parents. In June of that year the choir's planned multi-city tour of the United States was abruptly cancelled. The choir's administrator, Michelangelo Nardella, was suspended in July when the Vatican opened an investigation into alleged money laundering, fraud and embezzlement involving both Nardella and Palombella and related to the choir's foreign tours. In a ''
motu proprio
In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept.
In Catholic canon law, it refers to a do ...
'' issued by
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
on 19 January 2019, the Sistine Chapel Choir was placed under the administration of the Office of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations. Mons. Guido Marini, the master of ceremonies for papal liturgies, was tasked with drafting new statutes for the choir. Nardella was replaced by Archbishop Guido Pozzo as the choir's administrator, but for a time Palombella retained his post as the choir's musical director. In July 2019 Palombella resigned as director of the choir. Marcos Pavan, who leads the ''Pueri Cantores'' (the boys section of the choir) was named as interim director.
Past members
Past members of the choir include:
*
Andrea Adami da Bolsena
Andrea Adami da Bolsena (30 November 1663 – 22 July 1742) was an Italian castrato, musician, and later secretary to Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni.
He was born in Bolsena. Until 1690, he served the former queen Christina I of Sweden, alongsid ...
*
Gregorio Allegri
Gregorio Allegri (17 February 1652) was a Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic priest and Italy, Italian composer of the Roman School and brother of Domenico Allegri; he was also a singer. He was born"Allegri, Gregorio" in ''Chambers's Encyclop ...
*
Jacques Arcadelt
Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt; 14 October 1568) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in both Italy and France, and principally known as a composer of secular vocal music. Although he also wrote sacred vocal music, he wa ...
*
Giuseppe Baini
Abbate Giuseppe Baini (21 October 1775 – 21 May 1844) was an Italian priest, music critic, conductor, and composer of church music.
He was born in Rome. He was instructed in composition by his uncle, Lorenzo Baini, and afterwards by G. Jann ...
*
Odoardo Ceccarelli
*
Giovanni Cesari
Giovanni Cesari (25 June 1843 – 10 March 1904) was an Italian singer with a ''soprano acuto'', or high soprano voice.
Together with Alessandro Moreschi, Domenico Salvatori and Domenico Mustafà, Cesari was a famous castrato singer of the late ...
*
Costanzo Festa
Costanzo Festa (c. 1485/1490 – 10 April 1545) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. While he is best known for his madrigals, he also wrote sacred vocal music. He was the first native Italian polyphonist of international renown, and w ...
*
Bruno Filippini
Bruno Filippini (born 3 March 1945) is an Italian singer, mainly successful in the 1960s.
Life and career
Born in Rome, after graduating from a Technical-Commercial school Filippini studied music and chant and later entered the Sistine Chapel Ch ...
*
Antimo Liberati
Antimo Liberati (3 April 1617 – 24 February 1692) was an Italian music theorist, composer, and contralto singer.
Born in Foligno, Liberati began his musical training began in Rome in 1628 when he was admitted to the choir of San Giovanni in La ...
*
Alessandro Moreschi
Alessandro Moreschi (11 November 1858 – 21 April 1922) was an Italian chorister of the late 19th century and the only castrato to make solo recordings.
Early life
Alessandro Moreschi was born on 11 November 1858 to Luigi Lorenzo Moreschi (1840 ...
*
Domenico Mustafà
Domenico Mustafà (16 April 1829 – 17 March 1912) was an Italian castrato singer, composer and choir director.
Life
Domenico Mustafà was born in the comune of Sellano,Marbrianus de Orto
Marbrianus de Orto (Dujardin; also Marbriano, Marbrianus) ( – January or February 1529) was a Dutch composer of the Renaissance (Franco-Flemish school). He was a contemporary, close associate, and possible friend of Josquin des Prez, and was one ...
*
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina ( – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading ...
*
Marc'Antonio Pasqualini
200px, ''Marcantonio Pasqualini Crowned by Apollo'' (1641) by Andrea Sacchi.
Marco Antonio Pasqualini (stage name Malagigi; 25 April 1614 – 2 July 1691) was an Italian castrato opera singer who performed during the Baroque period. He has be ...
*
Josquin des Prez
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...
*
Domenico Salvatori
Domenico Salvatori (27 September 1855 – 11 December 1909) along with Alessandro Moreschi, Domenico Mustafà and Giovanni Cesari, was one of the famous Castrato, castrati singers of the late 19th century.
Born in Anagni, he first started as a c ...
*
Giuseppe Santarelli
*
Gaspar van Weerbeke
Gaspar van Weerbeke ( – after 1516) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance. He was of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, but unique in his blending of the contemporary Italian style with the older Burgundian style of Dufay.
L ...
*
Annibale Zoilo
Annibale Zoilo (c. 1537–1592) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance Roman School. He was a contemporary of Palestrina, writing music in a closely related style, and was a prominent composer and choir director in Rome i ...
Former boy singers
Former boy singers of the choir, most of whom became opera singers as adults include:
*
Nazzareno De Angelis
Nazzareno De Angelis (17 November 1881 – 14 December 1962) was an Italian operatic bass, particularly associated with Verdi, Rossini and Wagner roles.
He was the grandfather of the nationalist militants Nanni and Marcello De Angelis.
Care ...
*
Salvatore Baccaloni
Salvatore Baccaloni (14 April 190031 December 1969) was an Italian operatic bass, buffo artist, and actor.
Life and career
Baccaloni was born in Rome. After attending the Sistine Chapel choir school from age seven, he studied voice with the ce ...
*
Bruno Beccaria
*
Vittorio Grigolo
Vittorio Grigolo (correctly Vittorio Grigòlo, born 19 February 1977) is an Italian operatic tenor.
Early life
Grigolo was born in Arezzo and raised in Rome. He began singing by the age of four. When he was nine years old he accompanied his mot ...
*
Renato Rascel
Renato Rascel (), stage name of Renato Ranucci (; 27 April 1912 – 2 January 1991), was an Italian film actor and singer. He appeared in 50 films between 1942 and 1972. He represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 with the s ...
*
Giuseppe Sabbatini
Giuseppe Sabbatini (born 11 May 1957 in Rome, Italy) is a lyric tenor, orchestra conductor, conductor, and double-bassist.
His opera repertoire includes ''Idomeneo'', ''Mitridate, re di Ponto'', ''Don Giovanni'', ''Linda di Chamounix'', ''La favo ...
*
Pietro Spagnoli
Recordings
*''Habemus Papam'' (2014) – live recordings of the music sung by the Sistine Chapel Choir before, during and after the
conclave
A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church.
Co ...
which elected
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
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
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
*''Cantate Domino'' (2015) – Gregorian chants and music by
Palestrina
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...
,
Allegri,
Orlando di Lasso
Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...
,
Felice Anerio
Felice Anerio (26 or 27 September 1614) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, and a member of the Roman School of composers. He was the older brother of another important, and somewhat more progressive composer ...
, and
Tomas Luis de Victoria. Label: Deutsche Grammophon (the choir's first studio album)
*''Palestrina'' (2016) –
motet
In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...
s by Palestrina and his ''
Missa Papae Marcelli
''Missa Papae Marcelli'', or ''Pope Marcellus Mass'', is a mass ''sine nomine'' by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. It is his best-known mass, and is regarded as an archetypal example of the complex polyphony championed by Palestrina. It was sung ...
''. Label: Deutsche Grammophon
*''Veni Domine'' (2017) – Advent and Christmas music by
Pérotin
Pérotin () was a composer associated with the Notre Dame school of polyphony in Paris and the broader musical style of high medieval music. He is credited with developing the polyphonic practices of his predecessor Léonin, with the introdu ...
, Palestrina, Allegri, Tomas Luis de Victoria,
Josquin Desprez
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...
,
Jean Mouton
Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – 30 October 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Ven ...
, and
Jacobus Clemens. Label: Deutsche Grammophon
*''O Crux Benedicta'' (2019) – Lent and Holy Week music by Palestrina, Tomas Luis de Victoria,
Francesco Soriano
Francesco Soriano (1548 or 1549, in Soriano nel Cimino – 19 July 1621, in Rome) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most skilled members of the Roman School in the first generation after Palestrina.
Soriano was born ...
,
Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy. Not only was he a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish composer ...
,
Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...
,
Costanzo Festa
Costanzo Festa (c. 1485/1490 – 10 April 1545) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. While he is best known for his madrigals, he also wrote sacred vocal music. He was the first native Italian polyphonist of international renown, and w ...
,
Francesco Rosselli
Francesco Rosselli (1445 – before 1513) was an Italian miniature painter, and engraver of maps and old master prints. He was described as a cartographer, although his contribution did not include any primary research and was probably limi ...
,
Felice Anerio
Felice Anerio (26 or 27 September 1614) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, and a member of the Roman School of composers. He was the older brother of another important, and somewhat more progressive composer ...
, and
Francisco Gabriel Gálvez
Francisco Gabriel Gálvez (c. 1510 – 1578) was a Spanish Renaissance composer of sacred music and was the ''maestro di cappella'' of Cuenca Cathedral from 1560 until his death. His only extant score is a five-part motet, ''Emendemus in melius''. ...
See also
*
Cappella Giulia
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, ...
, the choir of St. Peter's Basilica
*''
Tra le sollecitudini
''Tra le sollecitudini'' (Italian for "among the concerns") was a motu proprio issued 22 November 1903 by Pope Pius X that detailed regulations for the performance of music in the Roman Catholic Church. The title is taken from the opening phrase ...
'', Pope Pius X's 1903 ''
motu proprio
In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept.
In Catholic canon law, it refers to a do ...
'' which detailed new regulations for the performance of liturgical music in the Roman Catholic Church
References
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
Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...
'', Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 15-24 (subscription required)
External links
Official website of the Sistine Chapel ChoirOfficial website of the Schola PuerorumTranscript and photographs from "The Pope's Choir" an interview by
Charlie Rose
Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP.
Rose also co-an ...
with members of the Sistine Chapel choir and its director Massimo Palombella which aired on ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'' in December 2016
Video: The Sistine Chapel Choir singing Palestrina's ''Sicut cervus''(official YouTube channel of
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
)
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