• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

What Did Palestrina Look Like?

Jeff Ostrowski · May 12, 2020

INGING at Mass recently, I mentioned to my friend (Jordan Pacheco) that I don’t know any music which is more awesome or passionate than Measures 20-21 (Tenor Line) in this Palestrina score. I used to think Palestrina was “boring” or “vanilla”—but I was wrong. (Boy, was I ever wrong!) But what did Palestrina actually look like? Do we know?

Fr. Cristóbal de Morales: We know what Father Cristóbal de Morales looked like. Scroll to the bottom of this article to see a contemporary picture of his face.

Fr. Francisco Guerrero: We also know what Father Francisco Guerrero looked like. Click here to see a contemporary image, which Corpus Christi Watershed paid an artist to “realize.”

Father Lawrence Lew recently sent me this image of Palestrina next to Guido d’Arezzo:


It is found on the Cathedral of Florence (the “Duomo of Firenze”), which was completed approximately 100 years before Palestrina was born. I guess that means the sculpture was added later? Here’s the full photograph by Father Lawrence Lew, OP—perhaps the world’s greatest photographer:

He is holding a score to “Missa Papæ Marcelli.” Our readers will understand why.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: May 12, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Vatican II did not say anything about the direction of the celebrant. […] I love both directions of celebrating Mass. Both are full of meaning for me. Both help me to encounter Christ—and that is, after all, the purpose of the liturgy.”

— Christoph Cardinal Schönborn (February 2007)

Recent Posts

  • Summer Ward Method Courses • CUA 2022
  • PDF Download • 2022 “Vespers Booklet” (99 Pages)
  • “Playing the Pipe Organ” • By Richard Nixon
  • 16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?
  • Prayer of Abandonment,  Saint Charles de Foucauld

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.