Palestrina: Song of Songs

Featuring

Philip Cave
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Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

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Composition History

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the composer, published his settings of the Song of Songs in 1584, dedicating the volume to Pope Gregory XIII.

Historical Context

The Song of Songs, despite its sensual text, was interpreted by Palestrina and others as an allegory for 'the divine love of Christ and his spouse, the soul,' fitting into Counter-Reformation religious art aesthetics.

Compositional Technique

This collection is unique in Palestrina's career as he set the Song of Songs as a unified cycle, rather than a compilation of separately composed works, and maintained the original biblical order.

Compositional Technique

Musically, the collection is divided into four parts, exploring different modal areas available to 16th-century composers, with these tonal areas coinciding with the text's subdivisions.

Interpretation

This recording presents Palestrina's motets as a continuous reading of the Song of Songs, reflecting the composer's apparent intention for them to be performed as a unified narrative.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Palestrina described the musical style of these motets as 'a little more lively' than his usual sacred compositions, attributing this to the sensual nature of the Song of Songs texts.

Compositional Technique

Palestrina used more word painting in these motets than in most of his sacred music, musically depicting imagery like 'rise' with upward motions or 'I went down' with descending melodic lines.