Composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) is “one of the musicians who contributed most to the promotion of sacred music.” These are the words of Leo XIV on June 18, 2025, during a ceremony organized on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the former Vatican choir master.
The pontiff highlighted the importance of the Roman polyphonic tradition, which flourished particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries but which remains a “point of reference” to this day.
On Wednesday afternoon, Leo XIV took part in an event promoted by the Domenico Bartolucci Foundation, named after the cardinal who was head of the Sistine Chapel choir from 1956 to 1997.
Bartolucci played an important role in preserving the sacred music heritage of the Catholic Church after the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. He promoted not only Gregorian chant but also polyphony, particularly that of Palestrina, of whom he was a recognized expert.
The close association of music, liturgy, and Christian life
After listening to the foundation's choir perform an excerpt from the Missa Papae Marcelli, the Pope gave a short speech in which he paid tribute to Palestrina, “one of the composers who contributed most to the promotion of sacred music.”
He emphasized how his creations, “solemn and austere, inspired by Gregorian chant, closely associate music and liturgy.”
In this way, Pope Leo XIV referenced the link between the liturgical reform of Pius X at the beginning of the 20th century with that implemented by the Second Vatican Council in the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium.
Leo XIV also noted that polyphony, the musical form in which Palestrina excelled, is “full of meaning for prayer and Christian life,” expressing “unity in diversity” in the Church. He emphasized how, drawing inspiration from the sacred text, it “harmonizes the whole thanks to the skill with which the composer develops and intertwines the melodies, respecting the rules of counterpoint, making them echo each other, sometimes even creating dissonances, which are then resolved in new chords.”
Highlighting the “immense artistic and spiritual heritage” produced by the Roman polyphonic tradition, the Pope recalled that it remains today “a point of reference.” He emphasized its compatibility with the liturgical reform of Vatican II, in that it encourages a “profound involvement of the voice, mind, and heart.”
On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the birth of composer Giovanni da Palestrina, the Holy See issued a stamp solemnly signed by Leo XIV. An anniversary album, recorded by the choir of the Domenico Bartolucci Foundation, was also presented to Leo XIV by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, honorary president of the foundation.
The composer of “Tu es Petrus”
A native of the town of Palestrina, south of Rome, from which he took his name, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina trained as a cantor at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. In 1551, he became choirmaster of one of the chapels of St. Peter's Basilica, benefiting from the papal election two years earlier of the bishop of his hometown, who was crowned Pope Julius III.
It was at this time, in a context marked by the Counter-Reformation, that Palestrina's career as a composer truly began. He remained in office during the very brief pontificate of Marcellus II (in 1555), but was dismissed the same year by Paul IV for having contracted marriage, which was forbidden at the time by the rules of the choir to which he belonged.
Palestrina then became choirmaster at the Roman basilica of St. John Lateran, then, in 1561, at St. Mary Major, before directing the choir of the Roman Seminary and resuming his position at St. Peter's Basilica in 1571.
In the last years of his life, he enjoyed great success and was buried in the Vatican Basilica. The composer of nearly 650 works, including around 100 Masses and nearly 250 motets, as well as numerous madrigals, he is best known for his Tu es Petrus, a Mass regularly performed in the Vatican during major papal celebrations.
