Palestrina portrayed

Giovanni Palestrina is one of the great sacred writers. His masses, from his mid-16thC tenure in the Vatican, are one of the high points of Western culture.

Missa Papae Marcelli of 1567, using six voices, and Missa Brevis are the best-known. Even if you don’t know them by name, you’ll almost certainly recognise the melodies as they’re commonly used as scene-setters, denoting “Renaissance/High Church”, on television.

Though few classical music listeners would rank Palestrina in their top five composers, many great musicians, better known than Palestrina, would beg to differ - he has always enjoyed a high reputation among later composers, who could wonder at his exemplary craft.

And his reputation as a great cult composer among the listening public has been growing, slowly but inexorably: 450 years after his peak, Palestrina could well be a coming man.

The second part of BBC Four TV’s Sacred Music was a revealing tribute to the glory of Palestrina’s music. You can catch a repeat, back-to-back with the first programme, on BBC Four on Sunday, 1900-2100.

And in a fortnight, the richly shot series reaches the Main Man – Johann Sebastian Bach.

Great art. Wonderful arts television. Highly recommended music for grown-ups.



Gerry Smith