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Sistine Chapel Choir

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Sistine Chapel Choir, in Italian Coro della Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina, is the pope's personal choir. It sings at papal ceremonies in the Sistine Chapel and in other churches in Rome where the pope leads a service, including St Peter's Basilica. It is one of the oldest choirs in the world. Pope Sixtus IV, who reigned from 1471 to 1484, made it his permanent choir, and both the choir and the chapel are named after him. Its roots reach back further still, to a group of singers from the time of Pope Sylvester I in the fourth century.

Music and breakthrough

Traditionally the choir sings a cappella, that is, without accompaniment, and consists of men and boys. From the middle of the sixteenth century castrati gradually took the place of the boys who sang the soprano parts. Today the choir has twenty men, the Cantori, and thirty boys, the Pueri Cantores. The men are professional singers. The boys receive free education at their own school in Rome, the Schola Puerorum.

Influence

For centuries this choir was the most important musical centre of Rome. Josquin des Prez, one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, was composer and leader there from 1486 to 1494. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina became a member in 1555. According to the musicologist Richard Sherr, he embodied the music of the Sistine Chapel more than anyone else. Since the late twentieth century the choir has also gone on international tours, taken part in radio and television and recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, including albums of works by Palestrina.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a recording of Palestrina by this choir, for example from the album Palestrina. Notice that all the voices weave through one another calmly and as equals, with no instrument underneath.

Discography

Studio albums

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