Luther & Palestrina

Lutheran & Catholic

KM Music Conservatory
The Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther
1483-1546
 Lutheran Church Music
• Mostly in Germany
• Texts in the vernacular with Catholic liturgy
• Churches could choose how music functioned
– Large churches kept Latin liturgy and polyphony
– Smaller churches used Luther’s Deutsche Messe
(German Mass, 1526)
• Used Catholic Mass outline
• Musical sections replaced with German hymns
(chorales)

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 The Lutheran Chorale
• Metric, rhymed, strophic poetry for unison,
unaccompanied
• Several chorales used per service – sung by
the congregation
• Many composed by Luther (with Johann
Walter)
• 4 published collections in 1524

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 Chorale Melodies
• Came from:
1. Adaptations of existing Gregorian chant
2. Existing devotional German songs
3. Secular songs with new words
4. Newly composed melodies

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“Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott”,
Martin Luther
 Catholic Church Music
• Dominated by composers from Flanders (ca.
1520-50)
• Careful treatment of dissonances
• 5 to 6 voices used in equally weighted
combinations
• Duple contrasted against triple meters

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 Counter-Reformation
• Jesuits
• Council of Trent
(1545-63)
– Amongst other
things, debated music
– Secular songs banned
in mass composition
– Final decisions left to
bishops
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 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
• 1525/6-94, Born in Palestrina –
near Rome
• Choirboy & then Choirmaster
• Taught music at the new Jesuit
seminary
• Composed more masses than
anyone else (104), Madrigals,
Motets, Liturgical compositions
• “Saved” polyphony from the
Council of Trent (Pope Marcellus
Mass)

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 Palestrina & the Mass

Palestrina
presenting a mass
to Pope Julius III
(1568)

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 Pope Marcellus Mass
• Free Mass – borrows melodies or canon
• Melodies often use step-wise arched lines,
similar to Gregorian chant
• Triadic harmony with very little chromaticism
• Counterpoint closely follows Zarlino’s rules (Le
istitutioni harmoniche)
• Syllabic text-setting & homophony
• 6 voices
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 Pope Marcellus Mass, “Credo”
• Direct style
• Full 6 voice texture
• Little repetition
• Extended ‘Amen’ section

• Video

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 Credo Text/Translation
Credo in unum Deum; I believe in one God;
Patrem omnipotentem, the Father almighty,
factorem coeli et terrae, maker of heaven and earth,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium. and of all things visible and invisible.
Credo in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
Filium Dei unigenitum, the only begotten Son of God,
Et ex Patre natum ante omnia sæcula. begotten of the Father before all worlds;
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, God of God, light of light,
Deum verum de Deo vero, true God of true God,
Genitum non factum, begotten not made;
consubstantialem Patri: being of one substance with the Father,
per quem omnia facta sunt. by Whom all things were made.
Qui propter nos homines, Who for us men
et propter nostram salutem and for our salvation
descendit de coelis. descended from heaven;
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost,
ex Maria Virgine: et homo factus est. of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis He was crucified also for us,
sub Pontio Pilato, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
passus et sepultus est. and was buried.
Et resurrexit tertia die And on the third day He rose again
secundum Scripturas. according to the Scriptures:
Et ascendit in coelum: and ascended into heaven.
sedet ad dexteram Patris. He sitteth at the right hand of the Father;
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, and He shall come again with glory
judicare vivos et mortuos: to judge the living and the dead;
cujus regni non erit finis. and His kingdom shall have no end.
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 Credo Text/Translation
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
Dominum, et vivificantem:
qui ex Patre Filioque procedit.
Qui cum Patre et Filio simul
adoratur et conglorificatur:
qui locutus est per Prophetas.
Credo in unam sanctam
catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
Confiteor unum baptisma,
in remissionem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum
et vitam venturi sæculi.
Amen.
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I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and giver of life,
Who prodeedeth from the Father and the
Son,
Who with the Father and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified;
as it was told by the Prophets.
And I believe in one holy
catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism
for the remission of sins.
And I await the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.