| Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca. 1525--1594) composed four cycles of spiritual madrigals consisting of fifty-six individual pieces; three cycles comprise the first book of spiritual madrigals published in 1581 ("Vergine bella," "O Jesu dolce," and "Spirito Santo, Amore"); one long cycle (Priego alla Beata Vergine Maria) was published in 1594 as the second book of spiritual madrigals. They present the combination of a major composer's mature skill with significant poetry. This study offers information that may guide conductors and singers to well-informed performance by placing these works in their social, historical, and musical context, providing musical analysis, discussing the relationship of music and text, and exploring performance practice issues.;The first two chapters include a brief biography of Palestrina and information about important personages in the history and use of the music being studied here. Chapter 1 also presents information about the historical context. Musical context for the composition and performance of these pieces is given in Chapter 2; that chapter also addresses issues of performance practice problems inherent in this repertoire. Chapter 3 includes analysis of the poetic structure, language, and iconography of the poems. This is followed by an analytical discussion (Chapter 4) which examines the presentation and use of modes, how poetic structure informs the musical structure, and other compositional devices. The Conclusion summarizes the study and suggests areas of future investigation. Appendices present the following information in a practical format: a discography, a chronology of important dates and events related to the people and works being examined in this study; texts and translations of all except the Petrarch texts; and texts of Marian litanies and Latin hymns that enhance our understanding of the imagery in the spiritual madrigals. |
