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The Music of Palestrina, and Expressive Setting of Text

By far the greatest output of Palestrina’s (1525/6-1594) work is sacred vocal music. Born in Palestrina and brought up in the church from a young age, he received his musical education in nearby Rome. He continued his studies there and became choirmaster at St. Peter’s in 1551.

Palestrina studied the works of Franco-Flemish composers, and used older cantus firmus methods for some of his works. In addition, Palestrina would adopt and re-work may of the finer examples of earlier works, by such figures as Jean Lhériter, whose motet Palestrina reworked as Missa Nigra sum sed Formosa for five voices. Palestrina also penned masses based on the motets and madrigals of each of Morales, Verdelot and de Silva, amongst others. In common with all these composers, was their fluent use of counterpoint, typically relieved by occasional homophonic statements. Most importantly, the composers generally tended to set the texts with more concern for their syntactic structure, as opposed to their potential for emotional expression.

“Palestrina Counterpoint” has been studied in great depth and detail over the centuries, giving an insight into Palestrina’s working methods. In accordance with Willaert’s school, Palestrina adopted many of the features of the madrigal, including the use of the alla breve   measure. In addition, Palestrina tended to avoid chromaticism even in his secular works, but above all in his Masses, where any necessary gestures would be made by the use of musica ficta. Also noticeable in the works of Palestrina, is the apparently independent lines of melody, yet when sung tutti, the method in which all of these lines meet as a triad upon each main beat. This device enabled Palestrina to vary the vertical combination of voices, to achieve subtle changes in texture.

All these features are evident in his work Missa Papae Marcellai, a mass which was written at precisely the same time as the Council of Trent’s “Canon on Music to be used in the Mass” – a document which essentially outlined the importance of clarity throughout the text setting of the Mass. Tellingly, the opening of the Credo in the Papae Marcellai begins with a homophonic, as opposed to contrapuntal and staggered fashion.

To achieve further variation in this work, Palestrina separated the singers into six distinct choirs, reserving the use of tutti textures for particularly important phrases, such as “Through Him, all things were made.” Yet it was common practice at this time, to issue the choir with separate partbooks, in which there were no indications of dynamics, tempi, articulation or phrasing. The onus was upon the singer to make these decisions during performance. It is also of significance that the exact syllabic character of the text was not specified upon the printed score, granting the performers the liberty to add these syllables according to contemporary convention.

Many of Palestrina’s paraphrase Masses display similar traits, which like their plainsong relatives, move largely in step or by 3rds. The Missa Iste Confessor, for example, introduces each individual part with five or six notes of the plainsong melody, before veering off into a short, freely composed section. Palestrina is evidently quite unconcerned with the implications of any word painting, be it accidental or otherwise, which in accordance with the Council of Trent’s wishes, allows the text to speak for itself.

These techniques are generally in sharp contrast with many of his contemporaries, including Byrd, who for one made the most of his subjective attitude towards these texts in interpreting them in the context of the movement of Renaissance Humanism. In this regard, Byrd excelled in demonstrating the joy of these texts through use of rhythmic, melismatic and harmonic devices, by the use of introducing melodic elements on alternating weak and strong beats for example, or the use of off-beat syncopation combined with imitative melismas; Hardly ever seen in Palestrina’s works. As a means of comparison, where Palestrina’s methods were typically conjunct and unwavering, Byrd’s were the very opposite.

In conclusion, Palestrina’s legacy largely lies in these methodical, invariable devices he used which remained largely unchanged, regardless of the style or genre within which he was composing. It is, in my opinion, by no means detrimental to the texts themselves, and certainly satisfied the Church’s need for music which stood firm in the face of criticism of unnecessary, and frequently excessive, use of crude word painting.

 

© Ronald MacDonald 2008
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