Despite the popularity of the motet, the polyphonic Mass was still the most significant sacred genre in the Renaissance. Palestrina is best associated with that form.
So what is a mass ? It is a composition that sets part of the Eucharist to music. Most Masses are settings of the liturgy in Latin, the liturgical sacred language of the Catholic Church’s Roman liturgy though English composers extended it to the developing Church of England.
There are six sections of the mass:
1. Kyrie ("Lord have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.")
2. Gloria
The Gloria is a celebratory passage praising God and Christ. In Mass settings (normally in English) composed for the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer liturgy, the Gloria is commonly the last movement, because it occurs in this position in the text of the service
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. We praise You, we bless You, we adore You, we glorify You, we give thanks.
"Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, who taketh away the sins of the world"
3. Credo
This is the longest section and is a setting of the Nicene Creed
4. Sanctus
The Sanctus is a doxology praising the Trinity. "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna in the highest."
5. Benedictus
The Benedictus is a continuation of the Sanctus. "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord"
6. Agnus Dei
The Agnus Dei is a setting of the "Lamb of God" litany:
"Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us"
The earliest complete settings of the mass date from the 14th century. Individual movements of the Mass, and especially pairs of movements (such as Gloria-Credo pairs, or Sanctus-Agnus pairs), were commonly composed during the 14th and early 15th centuries. Complete Masses by a single composer were the norm by the middle of the 15th century, and was the main focus of composers within the area of sacred music; it was not to be eclipsed until the motet and related forms became more popular in the first decades of the 16th century.
Among the most important Italian Renaissance composers was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (about 1525–1594), who devoted himself to music for the Catholic church. His career was thus centered in Rome, where he held important church positions, including that of music director for St. Peter’s.
Palestrina’s music includes 104 masses and some 450 other sacred works; it is best understood against the background of the Counter-Reformation. During the early 1500s, the Catholic church was challenged and questioned by the Protestants and, as a result, sought to correct abuses and malpractices within its structure, as well as to counter the move toward Protestantism. This need to strengthen the church led to the founding of the Jesuit order (1540) and the convening of the Council of Trent (1545–1563), which considered questions of dogma and organization.
During its deliberations, the council discussed church music, which many felt had lost its purity. Years before, the scholar Desiderius Erasmus (about 1466–1536) had complained: “We have introduced an artificial and theatrical music into the church, a bawling and agitation of various voices, such as I believe had never been heard in the theaters of the Greeks and Romans. . . . Amorous and lascivious melodies are heard such as elsewhere accompany only the dances of courtesans and clowns.” At the council sessions, church music was attacked because it used secular tunes, noisy instruments, and theatrical singing. Some complained that complex polyphony made it impossible to understand the sacred texts; they wanted only monophonic music—Gregorian chant—for the mass. The council finally decreed that church music should be composed not “to give empty pleasure to the ear,” but to inspire religious contemplation.
The restraint and serenity of Palestrina’s works reflect this emphasis on a more spiritual music. For centuries, church authorities have regarded his masses as models of church music because of their calmness and otherworldly quality. Even today, the technical perfection of his style is a model for students of counterpoint.
Pope Marcellus Mass
One of his most celebrated works is the Pope Marcellus Mass. The Pope Marcellus Mass is written for an a cappella choir of six voice parts: soprano, alto, two tenors, and two basses. It was dedicated to Pope Marcellus II, who reigned for 3 weeks in 1555 while Palestrina was a singer in the papal choir.
The mass is freely composed. Perhaps because of this, the mass is not as thematically consistent as Palestrina’s masses based on models
It is primarily a six-voice mass, no accompaniment, but voice combinations are varied throughout the piece; Palestrina scores Agnus II for seven voices, and the use of the full forces is reserved for specific climactic portions in the text. It is set primarily in a style with little rhythmic variation with little overlapping of text and a general preference for block chords such that the text can clearly be heard in performance, unlike many polyphonic masses of the 16th century. As in much of Palestrina’s work, voices move primarily in stepwise motion
We will be hearing the Agnus Dei section. First here is a graph of the opening part
