One name more than any other dominates the Vatican Library’s collection of musical manuscripts: Prenestinus—the latinized name of the small city of Palestrina, twenty miles east of Rome, now best known for its most famous son. The young Giovanni Pierluigi became a chorister at Santa Maria Maggiore, the major basilica to which he would return later in life as maestro di cappella. His first major appointment in Rome was as maestro of the Cappella Giulia, following which he was promoted to the Sistine Chapel. However, a subsequent Pope, Paul IV, reinstated the rule that members of the Sistine should be celibate, and thus the married Palestrina became ineligible. Palestrina took up the position of maestro at San Giovanni in Laterano and later moved to Santa Maria Maggiore as maestro. He returned to the Cappella Giulia in 1571, a position which he held until his death in 1594.

The magnificent six-part Dum complerentur and its accompanying secunda pars, Dum ergo essent, were written for the Feast of Pentecost and describe the drama of the scene as the Holy Spirit descends on the Apostles in the upper room. The excitement at ‘Et subito’ leads to a vivid depiction of the great sound coming down from heaven. In the second part, Palestrina uses John’s account in conjunction with the previous text from Acts of the Apostles to reiterate the story. Super flumina Babylonis demonstrates Palestrina’s consummate ability to weave extraordinary beauty within the relative limitations of a four-part motet. There is a great sense of proportion and balance of the phrases, together with the symmetry of their gently rising and falling lines.

Canite tuba and the accompanying Rorate caeli are both Advent texts and, like many such motet pairs, share similar musical material in their second halves, although Palestrina swaps around the two treble parts the second time, no doubt to keep his young charges on their toes. The bold opening chords of ‘Canite tuba’ herald the trumpet of Zion, while the line ‘Come Lord, and do not delay’ hurries impatiently towards the end.

Amongst the many things which St Philip Neri understood was the power and importance of art and music as an instrument of evangelization. Even in the days of the humble beginnings of the Oratory, when Neri’s disciples would meet in a room attached to San Girolamo della Carità, music played a major role. During those times, before the formal establishment of the Oratory at the Chiesa Nuova, there were at least two composers amongst St Philip’s brother priests, one being the Spaniard Tomás Luis de Victoria. The other was Giovanni Animuccia, who like Neri was a Florentine by birth.

Neri referred to Barocci, the artist of our cover painting, as ‘My’ Barocci, and it is not difficult to imagine that he thought of both Animuccia and Palestrina with the same fatherly instincts. On Animuccia’s death in 1571, Philip declared that he had seen the soul of his friend fly up to heaven. Animuccia provided a number of settings of laude, vernacular spiritual songs which Neri would have known from Florence, where they were promoted by Savonarola. These simple three-part hymns were used in the context of the musical ‘Oratories’ which marked the distinctive nature of St Philip’s charismatic mission.

Besides laude, Animuccia also wrote liturgical music and was well known amongst musicians working in Rome. Over time there was an ever-deepening connection between the Oratory and musicians employed in the service of the Sistine, or in the Cappella Giulia (the choir of St Peter’s). Many of these informally attended the Roman Oratory, and it seems that they often provided music when they could, gifting their services. Palestrina himself was known to be close to St Philip, but, as a maestro rather than singer, the demands of his various positions would probably have limited his freedom to attend other churches. Philip Neri evidently had a magnetic effect on his disciples and a real understanding of the importance of music, so it is entirely easy to see why so many musicians were also drawn to him. As they were not usually paid, there are few records of their participation in the ledgers. However, there are interesting accounts of occasions when they might receive gifts in return, such as in one recorded case when Ruggiero Giovanelli was rewarded with a pair of capons and a basket of mushrooms. It is possible too that some musicians enjoyed the patronage of particular prelates who would send them to sing at the Oratory. It is also quite easy to imagine that the acoustics of the Chiesa Nuova as well as the space to site singers in multiple choirs may have provided an irresistible opportunity for musicians to experiment outside the comparative limitations of the Sistine. One of the Oratorian Fathers, Francesco Zazzara, recorded the following in his diary on 26 May 1597, the second anniversary of Philip Neri’s death:

Mass and Vespers were sung most solemnly in the church, with music for four choirs, something never before sung, not only in this church, but perhaps in Rome, with motets and music newly composed by Signor Felice Anerio, who was in charge of the music. The church was full to the door so that we could not cope with any more.

Much of Animuccia’s music has been lost, aside from some beautiful editions of his three Masses and some motets in the Vatican Libraries. The fate of the rest is a mystery, though an ignominious legend exists that the scores were sold to a Roman cheesemonger to wrap his wares, such was the value of parchment paper at the time. Fortunately, a few motets can be found scattered across part-books held in various libraries, and we have reconstructed O crux ave, spes unica from Animuccia’s second book of laude and motets, published shortly before his death. The text, normally associated with Good Friday usage, is a slight variant reserved for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.

While most of the composers represented on this recording had broadly comparable careers, holding positions at the major basilicas and churches of Rome, Luca Marenzio worked outside of this orbit, supported by private patronage. Some of this patronage came from the direction of powerful prelates, such as the Cardinals Madruzzo and d’Este, but nonetheless much of his compositional output was non-liturgical. While we therefore tend to associate Marenzio more with madrigals, the double-choir Magnificat octavi toni is an ideal example of the transferability of madrigalian word-setting skills. Through-composed (rather than written in alternatim with the chant as Magnificats often are), the text is aligned vertically, ensuring absolute clarity, while the ‘Amen’ transforms into glorious free polyphony in a manner reminiscent of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli.

Giovanni Maria Nanino worked alongside Palestrina at Santa Maria Maggiore, and it is likely that he studied counterpoint with him. Nanino succeeded Palestrina as maestro, one of his choristers and pupils being Felice Anerio. He moved on to a similar post at San Luigi dei Francesi, the church with which he is most associated. Even when he went on to become a tenor in the Papal Choir, being replaced at San Luigi by his brother, he continued to live there and teach the choristers, who included the young Gregorio Allegri. On his death he was buried at San Luigi in the Contarelli Chapel underneath the famous Caravaggios of St Matthew. Adoramus te Christe is a beautiful but simple construction, with economical use of the five voice parts. Another of Nanino’s pupils was Francesco Soriano. Like his teacher, he became an important exponent of the Roman School which he and Nanino defended successfully in 1593 following a Spanish challenge. Soriano was maestro at San Giovanni in Laterano, at Santa Maria Maggiore and later at the Cappella Giulia in St Peter’s. His Regina caeli laetare is a delightful miniature, extremely concise yet charming and effective.

The Anerio family lived adjacent to the Chiesa Nuova and were very close to the Oratory. St Philip Neri was confessor to both parents, and the mother, Fulgenia, used to wash laundry for him. Felice’s younger brother, Giovanni, almost became an Oratorian before going on to be ordained as a diocesan priest, and his recovery from a serious illness was attributed to the intercession of Neri. Felice Anerio’s six-part setting of Adoramus te Domine Jesu Christe, a more extended version of the text set by Nanino, shows an inventive mind and a willingness to be quite harmonically adventurous, deploying unconventional progressions which nevertheless remain inside the grammatical rules of the style. By contrast, Giovanni Anerio’s O Maria gloriosa is more a work of rhythmic variety than harmonic. The form of an eight-part motet, set as here for double choir, is often more conducive to rhythmic invention, as found in the two motets by Giovannelli and Allegri on this recording; however, Anerio achieves some tender and poignant moments in his attentive setting of this text.

On the death of Palestrina, Ruggiero Giovannelli succeeded his former teacher as maestro of the Cappella Giulia, later becoming a tenor in the Sistine and also maestro there for a year. During his distinguished career in Rome, he held positions at San Luigi dei Francesi and the German College, and also performed at the English College on several occasions. In 1600 it is recorded that he was amongst a group of singers who travelled to Florence to sing at the wedding of King Henry IV of France to Maria de’ Medici. Iubilate Deo was first published in 1593 and contains frequent switches between duple and triple time, even setting the same text under different metres such as at ‘moveatur mare’.

Gregorio Allegri was a chorister at San Luigi Francesi, where he probably would have been taught by Nanino. He also had strong connections with the Chiesa Nuova and most likely sang there on occasion. Allegri’s motet Florete flores Beati Nerii sets a text in honour of St Philip Neri and, as strong evidence of his relationship with the Oratory, he was by his own request buried there in a tomb reserved for Papal singers. The tomb’s inscription reads: ‘The Pontifical singers, so that those whom melody united in life should not be separated in death, wish for this one burial place.’ Christus resurgens ex mortuis appears in a Sistine MS and is a double-choir rendering of an Easter text which exudes confidence and joy.

It is appropriate that we return to Palestrina, who must surely have the last word. His beloved four-part setting of Sicut cervus is equally as popular as his Super flumina Babylonis. If the Renaissance four-part motet can claim to be the ultimate musical form, then this surely must be one of the greatest examples. The yearning aspirations of the text are perfectly translated into the musical language. Equally masterful is the manipulation of the perception of time amongst the voices, so that while one part seems suspended and prolonged, such as at ‘ita desiderat’, the others gently progress onwards. The accompanying motet Sitivit anima mea is perhaps less well known but equally beautiful. A sublime effect occurs at ‘lacrimae’ where the three lower parts draw away downwards, and the treble line enters high above them, poignant and exposed.

The effusive and ebullient Exsultate Deo immediately transports the listener unequivocally upward, with a surging sense of infectious joy. Palestrina playfully emphasizes the various instruments named in the psalm text: ‘tympanum’, ‘cithara’ and ‘tuba’. Peccantem me quotidie is a stunning setting which paints the sorrow of the penitential text with particular intensity. The strong chords at ‘timor mortis’ give way to a sense of uncertainty as the line wanders, unsure of direction, at ‘conturbat me’. The motet reaches a striking climax at ‘Miserere mei’.

Palestrina’s six-part Tu es Petrus published in 1572, a setting of Christ’s words which adorn the inside of the crowning dome of St Peter’s, is a masterclass in dramatic word-setting. An icon in its own right, the motet serves as a monument to this great composer, who died in the arms of Saint Philip Neri on the Feast of Candlemas, 1594.

Charles Cole © 2025

Sacred treasures of Rome continues our anthology of sacred music drawn from the liturgical repertoire that we sing at the London Oratory. Palestrina was born in 1525/26, and it is a great joy for us to be able to bring out this recording to celebrate his quincentennial anniversary. His status as the definitive Renaissance polyphonist is reflected in the repertory which we have chosen for this recording. We have also included a number of other major composers who were working in his orbit in sixteenth-century Rome. Of particular relevance to us, Saint Philip Neri’s fledgling Oratory played a major role in the support and spiritual nourishment of music and musicians in Rome during the 1500s, helping them to thrive during one of history’s most astonishing eras of musical creativity.

The Schola is at its heart and purpose a liturgical choir, and we present this recording as an insight into the liturgical life of the London Oratory, where this music can be heard in its proper context. The boys come from The London Oratory School, with the Newman Choral Scholars drawn from recent alumni, and on this recording the average age of all the singers, across the four voice parts, is fourteen.

We are honoured to be able to share this music with a wider audience.

Charles Cole © 2025