As we enter our last few days of preparations of our trip to Palestrina and to sing at the Papal Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on the Feast of Pentecost, it was special to sing Palestrina’s masterpiece Missa Papae Marcelli today at the Pro-Cathedral.
This Mass  was sung at Papal Coronation Masses (the last being the coronation of Paul VI in 1963) and it also holds a very important place in the history of the Palestrina Choir:

• This Mass was composed in honour of Pope Marcellus II, who was Pope for three weeks in 1555, is often cited as the most perfect example of rich, complex polyphony.
• in the late 16th century, a legend began that polyphony might have been banned by the Council of Trent because of the unintelligibility of the words, was the impetus behind Palestrina's composition of this mass. It was believed that the simple, declamatory style of Missa Papae Marcelli convinced Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, on hearing, that polyphony could be intelligible, and that music such as Palestrina's was all too beautiful to ban from the Church.
• The Palestrina Choir had its origins in a boys’ choir formed in the 1890’s by Dr. Vincent O’Brien, then a music teacher at St. Mary’s Place Christian Brothers School in Dublin. It was at a performance of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli at St. Teresa’s Carmelite Church in Clarendon Street in 1898 that this choir, and its gifted director, first came to the attention of Edward Martyn.

And so today, celebrating the Feast of the Ascension, with next stop Cattedrale di Sant'Agapito martire, Palestrina on Friday at which we will sing the resplendant and powerful Missa Papae Marcelli, it was wonderful, and relieving, to hear the choir singing this polyphony in such a confident and shapely way.  
 
More information on the tour to Palestrina, St Peter’s Basilica and Basilica of San Silvestro to follow soon.

As part of the Palestrina Choir 120 celebrations, what a wonderful mini-tour to Cork City, Cobh and Mount Melleray Abbey.
The Choir had the great privilege of being part of the Cork International Choral Festival (thank you to Festival Artistic Director Peter Stobart) and to give concerts in two wonderful Cathedrals: St Fin Barre’s (Cork City) and St Colman’s (Cobh). The choir also had the special opportunity of joining with the Cathedral Choir of St Fin Barre’s in singing Choral Evensong wonderfully accompanied by Matthew Breen, newly appointed Assistant Director at St Fin Barre's. During this beautiful service, we were able to give a choir medallion to Christopher Costello, now in his 80s, who has spent his adult life in Cork, but who started out as a boy chorister in the Palestrina Choir. 

Holy Week and Easter liturgies may be still fresh in our memories but choristers are back with a bang, hitting the ground running. A great day was had today getting ready for "Palestrina Choir 120" outreach trip to Cork International Choral Festival and to Mount Melleray Abbey.
Boys made great progress on a whole range of repertoire for the trip whilst Parents and volunteers, co-ordinated by the Choir's wardrobe-mistress, Mary Sugrue, sorted choir uniform, choir bags and robes. It was quite the hive of activity upstairs in the choir area at the Pro-Cathedral.
Singing engagements:
lunchtime concert in St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, Friday 28th April at 1.10pm:
https://www.corkchoral.ie/festival_events/organ-recital-at-st-fin-barres-cathedral/
Choral Evensong in St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Friday 28th April at 6.15pm
St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Choir and the Palestrina Choir, St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral:
https://www.corkchoral.ie/festival_events/choral-evensong-at-st-fin-barres-cathedral/
Lunchtime concert in St Colman's Cathedral, Cobh, Saturday 29th April at 1.10pm:
https://www.corkchoral.ie/festival_events/choirs-at-st-colmans-cathedral-saturday/
Sunday morning Mass at 10.30am in Mount Melleray Abbey, Waterford:
https://mountmellerayabbey.org/

The ancient Service of Tenebrae anticipates the monastic offices for the last three days of Holy Week. Tenebrae means shadows or darkness and refers to the gradual extinguishing of candles and light as the service proceeds, until only one candle remains. Its light, too, is hidden, and a loud noise, the strepitus, is made symbolizing the death of Christ, his descent to the dead, and the earthquake at the time of the resurrection. Upon the return of the one candle, everyone leaves in silence.
The Tenebrae Hearse at the Pro-Cathedral has been dusted down, sequence of events has been rehearsed and the choristers are very excited about the strepitus and have even been given permission to bang their books increasingly loudly until the one lit candle is returned.
Here is the Hearse in the flower room being prepared for Wednesday's liturgy:

​It was a great joy this week to have lunch with Killian Farrell, who was a chorister in the Palestrina Choir.
Killian was such an enthusiastic and able chorister that it is no surprise that he now has a most successful and flourishing career in Germany as a conductor, specialising in opera.
Killian Farrell is designated Generalmusikdirektor of the Staatstheater Meiningen, and currently holds the position of First Kapellmeister at the Staatsoper Stuttgart.
Congratulations to Killian and continued success!

If you would like your son to join the Palestrina Choir and become part of this 120 year old tradition, please contact us for an application form.
Please note that the deadline for applications is 31st March 2023. 

In the first event of the PALESTRINA CHOIR 120 celebrations, and in keeping with the Marian thread that will permeate throughout this year, the Palestrina Choir is absolutely delighted to collaborate with Adrian Le Harivel, Curator of British Art at the National Gallery of Ireland, on this interesting project. On the Feast of the Purification and Presentation to the Temple, Adrian will trace the portrayal of the Blessed Virgin Mary in art throughout history with appropriate music sung by the choir.
THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY AT 7.30PM AT THE PRO-CATHEDRAL.
There will be a wine reception afterwards.
Entrance is free - ​All are most welcome. 

Art and Music on a Marian Theme with Guest Lecturer and Curator of British Art at the National Gallery of Ireland: Adrian le Harivel, promises to be an informative overview of how the Blessed Virgin Mary has been depicted and worshipped in both Art and Music.

The evening will cover six areas:

1. Origins of Marian Worship
2. The Marian Feasts
3. Purification of the Virgin and Candlemas
4. Lady Chapel and Specific Worship
5. Seven Joys of the Virgin
6. Marian Protection

Interspersed throughout these examples of Marian Art, the Palestrina Choir will provide a fitting musical backdrop all enveloped in the wonderful setting of St Mary's Pro-Cathedral. Everyone will also be invited to the wine reception after this wonderful event.
Please reserve your spot at Eventbrite.

Last week, we had a visit from Melanie Finn of the Irish Independant. All of the boys were excited to meet her! After a few informal interviews, the boys took to the Altar and decided to sing, for Melanie and her team, a small selection of carols for the choir's upcoming Christmas Concert 'Celebrating 120' in the National Concert Hall. Limited ticket availability. If you would like to read the rest of the article, please click on the image above.