On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), the Music Chapel of the Milan Duomo will offer a series of concerts celebrating the princeps musicæ from November 2024.
The Offertori (Offertoria totius anni [Romæ, apud Francisum Coattinum 1593]) will be offered in three concerts presenting the liturgical seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter.
The first book of four-voice Motets (Motecta festorum totius anni cum communi sanctorum [Venetijs, apud Antonjium Gardanum 1564; Venetijs, apud filios Antonji Gardani 1571]) will be presented in a selection that will cover the liturgical year from the solemnity of Christmas to that of Pentecost.
Selected motets will be presented from the second book of Motets for four voices (Liber II Motectorum Quatuor Vocum [Mediolani, apud Franciscum & hæredes Simonis Tini 1587]).
Of the 29 motets that make up the Song of Songs (Motettorum quinque vocibus. Liber quartus [Romae, apud Alexandrum Gardanum 1583-1584]), a selection will be offered for each polyphonic mode (protus [1-10], tetrardus [11-18], deuterus [19-24], tritus [25-29]).
One concert will be dedicated specifically to Holy Week, where the Hymn Vexilla Regis (Lateran Archives, Codex 59, ff. 75v-77), the Miserere (Sistine Chapel 205 [ff. 12v-14] and 206 [ff. 16v-19]) and the Popule meus (Lateran Archives, Codex 59, ff. 89v-90) are noteworthy.
The Missa Papae Marcelli (Missarum Liber Secundus [Romae, apud Heredes Valerii et Aloysii Doricorum Fratrum Brixiensium 1567]), the Missa Brevis (Missarum Liber Tertium [Romae, apud Haeredes Vaqlerij et Louisii Doricum Fratum 1570]), the Missa Æterna Christii munera, and the Missa Iste Confessor (Missarum Liber Quintus [Romae, apud Franciscum Coattinum 1590]) will be performed in their entirety, one Mass each with inserts of Gregorian chant (Introit and Offertory) or with the hymn from which the themes of the Mass itself (Æterna Christii munera and Iste Confessor) are evoked.
In addition, all solemn Vespers in the Cathedral from September 2024 to December 2025 – the Vespers with the full Musical Chapel present – will have the Magnificat – alternating between Schola and assembly – taken from the Magnificat octo tonum (Romae, apud Alexandrum Gardanum 1591).
All performances will make use of new critical editions (based on the oldest available source) and will include the Colores minores, the mutated notes and the practice of diminutions.
