Missa Papae Marcelli
Choir of Radio Italiana, Milan
Conductor, Roberto Benaglio
(Record'ng made available by courtesy of Radio Italiana)
Last of a series of nine programmes In April 1555 Cardinal Marcdlo Cervina was elected Pope, taking the title of Marcellus II. His death, three weeks later, prevented him from actively reforming the artificial complexities then existing in church music and worship. Palestrina's Mass, however, (written as a tribute to his memory) helped greatly to establish a purer style. Liturgically it conforms to the pieccpts (formulated by the Pope) of economy, clarity, and ineligibility of wolds. Its most memorable features are its noble design, austere atmospheie, and refined use of dissonance. H. C.-J.