Five hundred years of timeless beauty
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli
In 2025 we celebrate the 500th birthday of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Adrian Büttemeier, a true Palestrina fan, has put together some program suggestions for your choir.
For me, Palestrina’s music is like a balm for the senses and the soul. Regardless of whether I’m singing, playing or conducting, a few clean chords or an intensely shaped line can touch me, sweep me away and bring me a unique form of happiness. I’m always impressed by the ingenious combination of tonal beauty, spiritual depth and musical/textual clarity in his work. One of the greatest composers of the Western canon has lost none of his concentrated and sonorous power over the last five centuries – reason enough to celebrate his 500th birthday in style!
The Missa Papae Marcelli, in particular, is one of the best-known and most important works of the Renaissance period. And, although it probably did not “save” church music, this Mass can certainly be regarded as a pinnacle of Catholic sacred music in the 16th century. Palestrina’s influence on church music extends far beyond his lifetime: Johann Sebastian Bach made close study of his work (Carus 35.501 and Carus 35.301) while composers such as Felix Mendelssohn and Anton Bruckner also drew inspiration from him.
At a time when the role of liturgical music was being redefined, Palestrina’s Mass can be said to reconcile the demands of theology and sacred music. Reeling under the impact of the Reformation, this was a period of crisis for the Catholic Church, leading to a thoroughgoing reorganization of church practice. In my work for the “Choir & Future Unit” of the choral association of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), I often feel that the deliberations of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) on the significance of sacred music and its role in the church are as relevant as ever. Interestingly, this especially applies to activities at the local and regional levels, and not necessarily at higher decision-making levels.
One of our most pleasing tasks is, following Palestrina’s example, to repeatedly contrast these mundane discussions with heavenly music. The Missa Papae Marcelli is ideally suited for this; reputedly, it was even able to calm and move the irate cardinals at the Council of Trent. With a performance time of around twenty-five minutes, the Mass can take pride of place in its most dignified setting, namely during church service. Alternatively, Carus also offers all sections of the Mass as separate editions. For example, a performance of just the Kyrie and Gloria takes about ten minutes. Also interesting liturgically (as well as in non-sacred contexts) is a performance of the three Kyrie sections interrupted by short prayers.
For truly musical services, the Mass can be beautifully combined with pieces by Palestrina’s contemporaries such as Felice Anerio, Giovanni Gabrieli, Carlo Gesualdo or Claudio Monteverdi. Depending on the church season and your own preference, the Carus catalog offers numerous suitable motets by all four composers. Personally, I find the two Cantate Domino settings by Gabrieli (from “Symphoniae Sacrae I” 1597, Carus 1.521) and Monteverdi (from the Bianchi prints of 1620, Carus 3.315/50) particularly stunning. These can be charmingly juxtaposed and combined with the complete or abridged Palestrina Mass.
Alternatively, two other jubilarians have written wonderful music for use in church, namely Adam Gumpelzhaimer (400th anniversary of his death) and Andreas Hammerschmidt (350th anniversary of his death). Hammerschmidt’s Musikalische Andachten or Fest- und Zeit-Andachten are particularly suitable for performance because, as with Palestrina, they are scored for six voices. Incidentally, those who shy away from the six-part SATTBB scoring of the Missa Papae Marcelli can of course also use low alto voices for the first tenor. The Ten Motets by Andreas Hammerschmidt in very different arrangements with and without instruments (Carus 4.006) are also a highly recommended collection from Carus. In addition, there are numerous separate editions with four-part alternatives, motets with and without continuo as well as with additional instruments.
Alongside church services, I also enjoy creating concert programs based on a Mass setting. Either I place this at the heart of the program, arranging other works around it, or I break up the Mass and insert matching or contrasting works between the individual sections. In concert programs, I also find it interesting to juxtapose or interweave two different Mass settings, for example Johann Michael Haydn’s (1737-1806) Missa Sanctae Crucis, MH 56, from 1762, or Franz Liszt’s (1811-1886) Missa choralis S 10 from 1865 (available as Carus 50.312 and Carus 40.647, respectively).
Palestrina can also be partnered with contemporary jubilarians such as Arvo Pärt, who celebrates his 90th birthday in 2025. Pärt’s Berlin Mass (1990) for choir and string orchestra or organ as well as his solo organ Mass Annum per annum (1980) would make an extremely interesting one-hour concert program combined with the Missa Papae Marcelli. Alternatively, the 110th birthday of Knut Nystedt provides the perfect occasion to program his Missa brevis, Op. 102, (Carus 27.054) from 1985, which also brings the opportunity to feature other Scandinavian choral works in the program.
Like Palestrina, Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901) was caught up in a great musical controversy when adherents of the Cecilian Movement proposed returning to the stylistic roots of Palestrina’s music – somewhat paradoxically, if we remember that this music was in fact revolutionary in its day. The ways in which Rheinberger fused Palestrina’s legacy with the harmonic and tonal means of his time can be illustrated by a concert program featuring the Missa Papae Marcelli and the Missa in honorem Sanctissimae Trinitatis in F, Op. 117, from 1880 or the Missa St. Crucis in G, Op. 151, from 1882 (Carus 50.117 and Carus 50.151). The Rheinberger Complete Edition published by Carus offers many other options to enliven your concert program.
Finally, it seems to me that individual parts of the Mass can also become the subject of an entire concert program: How about a Kyrie-themed concert that combines various Kyrie settings with other works involving an entreaty (e.g. for peace, climate protection or justice)? Or a Gloria-themed concert with various Gloria settings and works whose titles begin with “Cantate”, “Jubilate” or “Laudate”? Here I’ve sketched out a potential program and would be delighted if it provides you with some inspiration. In any case, all choirs can learn something from Palestrina’s vocally-guided lines and beautiful harmonies. Time and again, I have seen how other choral pieces at a concert are illuminated when something by Palestrina is sung in parallel.
Your creativity really knows no bounds in this Palestrina anniversary year. The Missa Papae Marcelli is a wonderful starting point for liturgical and concert formats of very different flavors.
Jauchzet, singet, lobet! (Rejoice, sing, praise!)
Suggestion for a Gloria concert
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611–1675)
Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt from Musikalische Andachten V (3 min)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594)
Gloria from Missa Papae Marcelli (4 min)
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611–1675)
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied from Musikalische Andachten I (3 min)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594)
Gloria from Missa Aeterna Christi munera (3 min)
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
Cantate Domino SV 293 from Libro primo de Motetti (3 min)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594)
Gloria from Missa brevis (3 min)
Giovanni Gabrieli (1554–1612)
Cantate Domino from Symphoniae Sacrae I (3 min)
Johann Michael Haydn (1737–1806)
Gloria from Missa Sanctae Crucis MH 56 (3 min)
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611–1675)
Freude, Freude, große Freude from Musikalische Andachten V (6 min)
Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
Gloria from Missa choralis S 10 (5 min)
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839–1901)
Preis und Anbetung WoO 24 (2 min)
Gloria from Missa St. Crucis in G op. 151 (3 min)
Laudate Dominum from Four Motets op. 133, 3 (2 min)
Gloria from Missa brevis in F op. 117 (3 min)
Frohlocket, ihr Gerechten from Fünf Motetten op. 40,5 (2 min)
Arvo Pärt (* 1935)
Gloria from Missa syllabica (1977) (3 min)
Knut Nystedt (1915–2014)
Laudate (1990) (3 min)
Gloria from Missa brevis op. 102 (1984) (2 min)
Sing and rejoice (1983) (4 min)
as an encore:
Knut Nystedt (1915–2014)
Song of Praise (1974) (3 min)
Adrian Büttemeier is music director at Berlin Cathedral. He also works part-time as head of the “Choir & Future Unit” of the choral association of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), where he coaches choirs and their directors throughout Germany and is responsible for a digital workshop series on future-oriented topics relating to choral work.
Palestrina: Masses and separate movements, arranged by J.S. Bach
Franz Liszt: Missa choralis
Claudio Monteverdi: Madrigali e Motetti
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