The Cappella Giulia, officially the Reverend Musical Chapel Julia of the Sacrosanct Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, is the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

that sings for all solemn functions of the Vatican Chapter, such as

Holy Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...

Lauds Lauds is a canonical hour of the Divine office. In the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours it is one of the major hours, usually held after Matins, in the early morning hours (between 3:00:00 and 5:59:59). Name The name is derived from the three la ...

, and

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

, when these are not celebrated by the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

(for functions celebrated by the Pope, the Sistine Chapel Choir sings instead). The choir has played an important role as an interpreter and a proponent of

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

and sacred

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

History

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Ro ...

(590–604) is credited with establishing the first papal ''schola cantorum'' at the Basilica of St. Peter, after the model of the guild-like papal schola at St. John Lateran. This choir remained in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

during the

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy (; ) was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire, now part of France) rather than in Rome (now the capital of ...

(1309–1378) and was merged with the Avignon papal choir upon the Pope's return to Rome.

Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

(1471–1484) transferred all papal functions and the papal choir to his newly built chapel, now known as the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

, while providing for a small choir of eight singers for the chapter functions at St. Peter's. On 19 February 1512, Julius II (1503–1513) issued a

Bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

completely reorganizing the Vatican capella (hence the name "''Julia''" in Latin, "''Giulia''" in Italian). He enlarged its revenue and its size to twelve men and twelve boys, so that it could serve as a sort of preparatory school for the papal choir, on the plan of the ancient schola. Among the Cappella Giulia's choir masters were esteemed names such as

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de V ...

(1551–1554 and 1571–1594), Giovanni Animuccia, Francesco Soriano, Stefano Fabri, Orazio Benevoli,

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque music, Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical peri ...

, Niccolò Jommelli, Pietro Raimondi, Salvatore Meluzzi, and Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. The capella was disbanded in 1980 and replaced temporarily by a choir directed by the Spanish Monsignor Pablo Colino Paulis (''Magister ad nutum'') to continue to perform the key functions of the previous choir. In this new choir, called the Musical Chapel of the Sacrosanct Patriarchal Vatican Basilica, unlike the previous capella, the boy choristers were replaced by female voices, when they sang on major holidays (Easter, Christmas, and Saints Peter and Paul). In 2006 the choir was again reorganized, retaining the addition of women's voices, under the current choir master, the Canadian Father Pierre Paul, O.M.V. In May 2008 the original title "Cappella Giulia" was newly restored by the Vatican Chapter, and Rev. Pierre Paul was officially appointed as Choir master (''Magister ad nutum Capituli'') with a formal act. "See Cappella Giulia, Wikipedia (Italian). On 7 April 1994, the Cappella Giulia participated in the Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

conducted by Gilbert Levine in the Sala Nervi at the Vatican. The concert was broadcast throughout the world.

References

{{authority control Culture of Vatican City Italian choirs Catholic music St. Peter's Basilica Pope Julius II

History

See also

References