Domenico Bartolucci
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Bartolucci11.jpg/220px-Bartolucci11.jpg) |
Other post(s)
| Director emeritus of the
Sistine Chapel Choir
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Ordination
| 23 December 1939
by
Elia Dalla Costa
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Created cardinal
| 20 November 2010
by
Pope Benedict XVI
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Rank
| Cardinal deacon
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Born
| (
1917-05-07
)
7 May 1917
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Died
| 11 November 2013
(2013-11-11)
(aged 96)
Rome
, Italy
[2]
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Nationality
| Italian
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Denomination
| Roman Catholic
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Motto
| Psallam Deo meo
(I will sing to my God)
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Coat of arms
| ![Domenico Bartolucci's coat of arms](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Coat_of_arms_of_Domenico_Bartolucci.svg/50px-Coat_of_arms_of_Domenico_Bartolucci.svg.png) |
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Domenico Bartolucci
(7 May 1917 ? 11 November 2013) was an Italian
cardinal
of the
Catholic Church
. He was the former director of the
Sistine Chapel Choir
and the
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
, and was recognized in the field of music both as a director and a prolific composer. Considered
[
by whom?
]
among the most authoritative interpreters of
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
, Bartolucci led the Sistine Chapel Choir in performances worldwide, and also directed numerous concerts with the Choir of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, including a tour of the former
Soviet Union
.
On 20 November 2010, Pope
Benedict XVI
elevated him to the
College of Cardinals
. Because Bartolucci was over the age of 80, he was never eligible to participate in any
papal conclave
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
At a very young age, Bartolucci entered the seminary in
Florence
, where he was recruited as a singer. Upon the death of his master Bagnoli, Bartolucci succeeded him as director of the Chapel of the
Duomo of Florence
. In those years he began to compose his first masses, motets, and organ music, as well as madrigals and chamber music.
[3]
At the end of 1942, Bartolucci went to Rome in order to deepen his knowledge of sacred music. Having served as Deputy Master of the
St. John Lateran
, in 1947 he was appointed Master of the Liberian Choir of
St. Mary Major
, succeeding
Licinio Refice
, absent. In 1952, on the advice of
Lorenzo Perosi
, he was appointed Deputy Master of the Sistine Chapel.
Bartolucci and the Sistine Chapel Choir
[
edit
]
When Perosi died in 1956, Pope
Pius XII
gave Bartolucci the position of permanent director of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir.
[4]
In 1997 Bartolucci was replaced at the helm of the Sistine Chapel by Msgr.
Giuseppe Liberto
, an event which aroused some controversy in the context of liturgical music.
[5]
Among those most against the decision, motivated by Papal Master of Ceremonies Archbishop
Piero Marini
, was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,
[6]
who, after he became Pope
Benedict XVI
, recalled Bartolucci to direct a concert in the Sistine Chapel on 24 June 2006, in which he offered music from the repertoire of sacred polyphony of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina alongside his own compositions including the motet
Oremus pro Pontifice Nostro Benedicto
("Let us pray for our Pontiff Benedict"), dedicated to the Pope.
[7]
The ensemble of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir upon the death of Perosi was in poor condition. The situation was restored, however, thanks to the commitment of Bartolucci and the personal interest of Pope
John XXIII
. In the forty years of Bartolucci's leadership, the choir balanced the obligation of papal liturgies with tours in various countries throughout the world, including Austria, France, Belgium, the Philippines, Australia, the United States, Turkey, Poland and Japan. In the years of the
Second Vatican Council
Bartolucci, against abandoning Latin, committed himself that the liturgical reform should not take a direction hostile to sacred music.
[8]
Activity as a composer
[
edit
]
Bartolucci was also dedicated to teaching and composition. He was a child prodigy, having composed his first Mass at age 12; his best-known Mass is the "Misa Jubilei," written in the Holy Year 1950.
[9]
The body of his work already published fills more than forty volumes and includes Masses, motets, madrigals, hymns, symphonic, organ, and chamber music, and above all a series of oratorios for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. His three-act opera
Brunelleschi
is yet to be performed.
The concept of music for Bartolucci is based on naturalness and spontaneity. His reference points are
Gregorian chant
,
Palestrina
, and
Verdi
. Characteristic of Bartolucci's aesthetic conception is a respect for tradition, whose base lies in "a considerable severity of song and a certain limpid and solid
polyphony
", as he describes in the preface to his
First Book of Motets
.
Creation as cardinal
[
edit
]
On 20 October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI announced Monsignor Bartolucci's appointment to the
College of Cardinals
in the
consistory
scheduled for 20 November, recognising him for his service to the Church in the area of sacred ecclesiastical Catholic Church music (music used in the Catholic Church's principal liturgical celebrations, especially the Eucharist ? the Mass, liturgical processions, rites such as marriages and funerals, and Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction). He was created
Cardinal-Deacon
of
Santissimi Nomi di Gesu e Maria in Via Lata
, usually referred to as
Gesu e Maria
. At his elevation, Bartolucci became the fourth-oldest member of the college. Because he was over the age of 80, under the terms of Pope
Paul VI
's 1970
motu proprio
Ingravescentem aetatem
, he was never eligible to vote in any future Papal conclave.
[10]
Bartolucci was excused from the requirement that a cardinal be or become a bishop.
Death
[
edit
]
Bartolucci died on 11 November 2013, at the age of 96. His funeral Mass took place at
St. Peter's Basilica
on 13 November, and was led by
Angelo Sodano
,
Dean of the College of Cardinals
, with
Pope Francis
performing the final commendation. The Pope described Bartolucci as a "dear and esteemed priest, illustrious composer, and musician, who exercised his long ministry particularly through sacred music, which is born of faith and expresses faith".
[11]
Honour
[
edit
]
Italy
: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1 August 1994)
[12]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Catholic-Hierarchy.com,
Domenico Cardinal Bartolucci
"
. Retrieved
21 November
2010
.
- ^
"Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church,
Domenico Bartolucci
"
. Archived from
the original
on 27 May 2017
. Retrieved
11 November
2013
.
- ^
"Il Maestro"
(in Italian). Fondazione Domenico Bartolucci
. Retrieved
10 January
2016
.
- ^
"Pope Names New Leader of Sistine Chapel Choir"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. Associated Press. 21 December 1956
. Retrieved
10 January
2016
.
- ^
Magister, Sandro
(12 March 2008).
"Great Music in the Churches of Rome. But in the Vatican, They're Deaf"
.
L'Espresso
. Retrieved
22 November
2010
.
- ^
Magister, Sandro (7 May 2002).
"Caso Bartolucci. Maestro, qua si cambia musica"
.
L'Espresso
(in Italian)
. Retrieved
22 November
2010
.
- ^
Magister, Sandro (27 June 2006).
"Musica nuova in Vaticano, non-solo in segreteria di stato"
.
L'Espresso
(in Italian)
. Retrieved
22 November
2010
.
- ^
Ruff, Anthony (2007).
Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations
. Chicago: Hillenbrand Books. p. 340.
ISBN
978-1-59525-021-6
. Retrieved
10 January
2016
.
- ^
"Sacred Music in Crisis"
. ZENIT. 19 January 2011
. Retrieved
10 January
2016
.
- ^
Pope
Paul VI
.
"Ingravescentem aetatem"
(in Italian)
. Retrieved
23 November
2010
.
- ^
"Cardinal Bartolucci, former Sistine Chapel Choir director, dies at 96"
. Catholic News Service. 11 November 2013. Archived from
the original
on 4 March 2016
. Retrieved
10 January
2016
.
- ^
"Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana"
.
www.quirinale.it
. Retrieved
24 October
2022
.
External links
[
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]
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