This program brings together magnificent choral music heard in the pope’s presence and music offered to him from afar, from radiant sacred polyphony to the intimate lute artistry of Francesco da Milano, evoking the sacred beauty that animated his brief but consequential papacy.
Leo X presided over one of the most resplendent courts of worship and art in the Renaissance. His reputation as a champion of sacred music reached far beyond Rome, prompting composers and court across Europe to prepare works and volumes of music in his honor. This program brings together magnificent choral music heard in the pope’s presence and music offered to him from afar, from radiant sacred polyphony to the intimate lute artistry of Francesco da Milano, evoking the sacred beauty that animated his brief but consequential papacy.
The quincentennial of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is an occasion to recognize the outstanding legacy of this talented musician not only in realm of sacred music but also in the history of composition more broadly. In an 80-minute concert presentation without intermission, Schola Antiqua explores an array of Palestrina’s sacred choral works, ranging from hymn and psalm settings to motets and spiritual madrigals. In-concert commentary illuminates Palestrina’s central role as conservator of Catholic plainchant and the ‘perfect art’ of imitative counterpoint.
