Unger M.P. Historical Dictionary of Choral Music

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Although he first focused on instrumental music, he became best

known for his later choral works. Some of the most notable of these

are the odes Blest Pair of Sirens, for chorus and orch. (1887), Invoca-

tion to Music, for S, T, B, chorus, and orch. (1895), Ode to Music, for

S, S, A, T, B, chorus, and orch. (1901), and Ode on the Nativity, for

S, chorus, and orch. (1912); the cantatas L’Allegro ed Il Pensieroso,

for S, B, chorus, and orch. (1890) and The Pied Piper of Hamelin,

for T, B, chorus, and orch. (1905); the oratorios Judith (1888), Job

(1892), and King Saul (1894); the psalm setting De profundis [Psalm

130], for S, 12 vv., and orch. (1891); the coronation anthem I Was

Glad [Psalm 122] (1902 for Edward VII, rev. 1911 for George V);

the Te Deum (D) for chorus and orch. (coronation of George V,

1911); and the motets Songs of Farewell (1916–18). He also wrote

some 50 partsongs.

A great admirer of Richard Wagner, Parry embraced the social

Darwinism of Herbert Spencer, which informed his view of music’s

development, leading to an ethnocentrism that honored Germanic

music above other traditions, and contributed to his humanitarian

convictions, in particular, to his sense of the composer’s obliga-

tion to society. Composers influenced by his legacy include Ralph

Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Herbert Howells, Arthur Bliss,

and Gerald Finzi.

PARSONS, ROBERT (C. 1535–25 JANUARY 1571/72). English

church musician and composer. He served as a Gentleman of the

Chapel Royal from 1563 until his untimely death, when his place

was taken by William Byrd. His music is characterized by a dis-

sonance-enriched harmonic language and contrapuntal ingenuity.

Surviving, securely attributed choral works (most of which are for

five or six voices) include 10 Latin pieces (3 incomplete, one of them

a Magnificat), 2 services, and 2 English anthems.

PÄRT, ARVO (11 SEPTEMBER 1935– ). Estonian composer. Dur-

ing his early career he used serial techniques, bringing censure from

Soviet authorities; in 1968 he alienated them further by writing

Credo, an explicitly Christian work for choir and orchestra, in which

Johann Sebastian Bach’s C-major prelude (from the first volume

of Das wohltemperirte Clavier) is distorted by means of a chain of

fifths used as a 12-tone row. During the following years he reevalu-

ated his technique, studying chant and early music, while writing

342 • PARSONS, ROBERT

little. He reemerged in the mid-1970s with a new minimalist, tonal

technique that he called “tintinnabuli” (from the Latin tintinnabulum,

bell), in which one voice (the “tintinnabular voice”) arpeggiates the

tonic triad, while another moves diatonically in stepwise motion.

The resulting music (most of it on Christian themes and mystical

in character) is essentially static, the melody and accompaniment

forming a kind of unity. Usually employed in the context of a slow

tempo, the technique produces a hypnotic, meditative effect. Works

from this time include Missa syllabica and Cantate Domino, both for

SATB/(S, A, T, B) and org. (both 1977, rev. 1996); and Summa, a

Credo setting for SATB/(S, A, T, B) (1977, scored for str., 1991).

In 1980, having received little support in his communist homeland,

Pärt emigrated first to Vienna, then to West Berlin. A steady stream

of religious works in his new style appeared; among them, a St. John

Passion, for T, B, vocal qt. (SATB), SATB, ob., bn., vn., vc., and org.

(1982); Berliner Messe, for mixed choir or soloists and organ, or with

str. orch. (1990/91, rev. 1997/2001); Te Deum, for three choruses,

pf., str., and tape (1985, rev. 1992); and Miserere, for S, A, T, T, B,

SATB, 10 insts., and org. (1989, rev. 1992). Unaccompanied pieces

include Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen (1988), Magnificat, for S and

chorus (1989), And One of the Pharisees (1990), Kanon Pokajanen (a

large-scale setting of Russian Orthodox texts, 1995), I Am the True

Vine (1996), The Woman with the Alabaster Box (1997), Tribute to

Caesar (1997), Which Was the Son of . . . (2000), Da pacem Domine

(2004), and The Deer’s Cry (“Christ with Me . . .”, 2007).

PARTSONG. In the broadest sense, any vocal piece for several voice

parts, including 16th-century vocal ensemble music and 18th-century

catches, rounds, and glees in England. However, the term is often

reserved for more-or-less homophonic compositions to secular texts

for convivial music-making, usually without independent accompa-

niment. The genre flourished particularly during the 19th century in

England and Germany. Notable composers included Robert Pears-

all, Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford, Edward Elgar,

Frederick Delius, Peter Warlock, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gus-

tav Holst, Herbert Howells, and Gerald Finzi (in England); Franz

Schubert, Robert Schumann, Carl Maria von Weber, Felix Men-

delssohn, Peter Cornelius, and Johannes Brahms (in Germany);

Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky,

Antonín Dvorˇák, Béla Bartók, and

PARTSONG • 343

Zoltán Kodály (in Eastern Europe); Horatio Parker, Edward Mac-

Dowell, and Elliott Carter (in the U.S.); among countless others.

PASQUINI, BERNARDO (7 DECEMBER 1637–22 NOVEMBER

1710). Italian composer and renowned organ and harpsichord player,

who spent most of his life in Rome. His extant vocal works include

12 operas, 7 oratorios, and 3 cantatas for one to five voices.

PASSEREAU, PIERRE (FLOURISHED 1509–47). French com-

poser of chansons, of which more than two dozen survive. Most of

them have narrative or descriptive texts (which often display some-

what coarse language and subject matter, including unsubtle puns),

set in syllabic manner to bright rhythms and winsome melodies. Il

est bel et bon, with its imitation of clucking hens, is undoubtedly the

most popular.

PASSION. Settings to music of the account of Christ’s crucifixion, as

recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As early

as the Medieval period, the Passion story was chanted in a semi-

dramatic fashion, using three different voice ranges for the roles of

the story: the part of Christ was sung in low range, that of the narrator

(Evangelist) in mid-range, and that of the crowd and other individu-

als (turba) in high range. By the mid-1200s the roles of the Passion

were distributed among several individuals for more realistic effect.

During the 15th century, composers began incorporating po-

lyphony for the words of the crowd, occasionally also for utterances

of other individuals. Such “responsorial Passions” (also called

“choral Passions” or “dramatic Passions”) were intended to help

recreate for the listener a first-hand experience of the story. Compos-

ers of (Latin) responsorial Passions included Francesco Corteccia,

Vincenzo Ruffo, Orlande de Lassus, Tomás Luis de Victoria,

Francisco Guerrero, and William Byrd. Some Passions of the time

employ polyphony for the entire text (even the narrative passages);

occasionally such “through-composed Passions” or “motet Pas-

sions” combine all four Gospel accounts (summa passionis). Often

a polyphonic introduction (exordium) and conclusion (conclusio)

are included—these appear also in other Passion types. The earliest

example of a polyphonic summa Passion dates from the early 1500s;

it is usually attributed to Antoine de Longueval, although Johannes a

la Venture and Jacob Obrecht have also received credit for it.

344 • PASQUINI, BERNARDO

In Protestant Germany, Passions were cultivated widely by Lu-

theran composers. In accordance with Luther’s emphasis on the

vernacular, many were in German, in either responsorial or summa

form. Latin-texted summa Passions occurred as well. Two responso-

rial works, in particular, exerted great influence throughout the 16th

century and into the next: the St. Matthew and St. John settings (about

1550) attributed to Johann Walther, Martin Luther’s friend and

collaborator. Building on these models, succeeding composers began

expanding the polyphonic component, adding a polyphonic exordium

and conclusio, and later, setting Christ’s words polyphonically (in

the Italian manner), leaving only the narrative sections of the text as

monophony. The first known German work of this type is Antonio

Scandello’s St. John Passion (1561).

Apart from Walther’s works, the most famous Passion in Germany

was the Longueval summa Passion, which was first published in 1538

by Rhau of Wittenberg under Jacob Obrecht’s name and which then

appeared in an additional 30 sources. Other notable German settings

of the time include ones by Leonhard Lechner (1593) and Chris-

toph Demantius (1631). Meanwhile, in Catholic Germany, Jacobus

Handl wrote at least three summa Passions (1578, printed in 1586),

while Jacob Regnart contributed one (about 1580).

The first known German Passion with instruments is Thomas

Selle’s St. Matthew Passion (1642) which, although of the old Prot-

estant type, incorporates not only a continuo part throughout but

also melodic instruments to accompany the voices of Christ and the

Evangelist. In a continuation of the responsorial tradition, Heinrich

Schütz wrote three remarkably expressive Passions (St. Matthew, St.

Luke, and St. John, all dating from the mid-1660s)—without instru-

ments but with a newly devised kind of recitation tone replacing the

chanted portions and with effective choruses for the crowd. How-

ever, in his Sieben Wortte Jesu Christi am Kreuz (date unknown),

he included two sinfonias as well as two obbligato instruments to

accompany the part of Christ.

Around 1665, after Italian opera and oratorio had begun taking

root in Germany (especially in the northern cities), composers began

employing the new theatrical forms and techniques for heightened

dramatic impact, resulting in the so-called oratorio Passion. Charac-

terized by greater sectionalization and the use of instrumental accom-

paniment, oratorio Passions include sinfonias, occasional recitatives

PASSION • 345

(for narrative texts), and chorales and arias that reflect on the trans-

piring events. After Erdmann Neumeister introduced madrigalian

verse into cantata libretti in 1700, full-fledged recitatives and da

capo arias became commonplace.

For even greater dramatic effect, German poets also produced

sensationalist, freely devised libretti that replaced scriptural texts

with poetic paraphrases (a trend occurring also in Italy), leading to

the development of the “Passion oratorio.” Famous libretti included

C. F. Hunold’s Der blutige und sterbende Jesus, used by Reinhard

Keiser in a 1704 setting (which Johann Sebastian Bach performed

while he was in Weimar), and Barthold Heinrich Brockes’s highly

popular Der für die Sünden der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Je-

sus, set by Reinhard Keiser (1712), Georg Philipp Telemann (c.

1716), George Frideric Handel (1717), Johann Mattheson (1718),

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1723), and Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel

(1725), among other composers. Bach’s two extant Passions (the St.

John Passion of 1724 and the St. Matthew Passion of 1727)—often

cited as culminating examples of the genre—were of the former

type, however, mixing scriptural texts with hymn stanzas and freely

composed poetry.

After about 1730, under the influence of pre-Classical trends, Pas-

sion oratorios became more lyrical. In Italy, Pietro Metastasio’s “La

Passione di Gesù Cristo” was set by Antonio Caldara, Niccolò Jom-

melli, and Giovanni Paisiello, among other composers. In Germany,

the most famous setting was Carl Heinrich Graun’s Der Tod Jesu

(1755).

After 1800, as interest in sacred music waned, so did the Pas-

sion tradition. Most subsequent settings of the Passion story were

intended as concert works. Notable examples include Ludwig van

Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge (1803). In the wake of a reawak-

ened historical interest, choral societies revived older works, among

them, Bach’s two Passions. In Great Britain, John Stainer’s Passion

cantata, Crucifixion (1887), became enduringly popular. Some com-

posers began to base their works on historical models. Examples in-

clude Hugo Distler’s Choral-Passion (1933), modeled after Schütz,

and Ernst Pepping’s Passionsbericht des Matthäus (1950), whose

double choir dialogue is reminiscent of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

Ambitious works from the later 20th century include Krzysztof

Penderecki’s Passio et mors Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum

346 • PASSION

Lucam (1965) and Arvo Pärt’s Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi

secundum Joannem (1982).

PATTERSON, PAUL (15 JUNE 1947– ). English composer. Since

1969 he has taught at the Royal Academy of Music. In the 1970s he

adopted the bold textural techniques and graphic notation of Polish

composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki. His choral works of that

decade include Kyrie, op. 13, for SATB and pf. duet (1972); Time

Piece, op. 16, for 6 male vv. (1973); Requiem, op. 19, for SATB

and orch. (1975); and Voices of Sleep, op. 40, for S, SATB, and

orch. (1979). His later works are more traditional in style, among

which are Mass of the Sea, op. 47, for S, B, SATB, and orch. (1983);

Stabat mater, op. 57, for Mez., SATB, and orch. (1986); Magnificat

and Nunc Dimittis, op. 59, for SATB and org. (1986); Te Deum,

op. 65, for S, SATB, boys’ vv., and orch. (1988); The End, op. 68,

for ATB (1989); and Magnificat, op. 75, for SATB, brass, org., and

perc. (1994).

PAULUS, STEPHEN (24 AUGUST 1949– ). American composer. His

teachers included Dominick Argento at the University of Minnesota.

A prolific composer, he has written extensively for chorus in a con-

servative yet pointed style—both large-scale works such as Voices,

for soloists, chorus, and orch. (1988) and To Be Certain of the Dawn,

a holocaust memorial oratorio for SSAATTBB, SSA children’s cho-

rus, S, Mez., T, Bari, SSAATTBB, SSA children’s chorus, orch., and

shofar (2005); and a great many short pieces such as partsongs and

carols. Most of his works reflect a spiritual orientation.

PEARSALL, ROBERT LUCAS (14 MARCH 1795–5 AUGUST

1856). English composer and antiquarian. After practicing law for a

few years, he turned to music in 1925, while in Germany recuperat-

ing from a slight stroke. For four years he studied composition in

Mainz, during which time he developed considerable skill in writing

counterpoint and became caught up in the Cecilian movement.

From 1830 to 1842 Pearsall lived in Karlsruhe, from where he

traveled extensively, pursuing his antiquarian interests. During a visit

to England, he became a founding member of the Bristol Madrigal

Society (1937), and he subsequently devoted considerable effort to

composing madrigals (first in the style of Thomas Morley’s balletts,

then in an expanded manner) and partsongs.

PEARSALL, ROBERT LUCAS • 347

Around 1842 Pearsall acquired a castle near Rorschach, Switzer-

land, where he became friendly with the monks of nearby St. Gallen

and also with those in Einsiedeln. The result was a significant body

of music for the Roman Catholic Church.

In total, Pearsall wrote than 50 Latin pieces (among them, a Re-

quiem for 4 vv., wind insts., and organ, which he considered his

best work), 6 English services, a dozen English anthems, more than

20 madrigals (among which are the eight-voice Great God of Love

and Lay a Garland on Her Hearse), and some 60 partsongs, not to

mention hymns (many for the St. Gallen hymnal) and other sacred

pieces.

PEETERS, FLOR (4 JULY 1903–4 JULY 1986). Belgian composer,

organist, and teacher. World-renowned as an organ recitalist and

teacher, he composed more than 60 choral works (almost all sacred).

Among them are Latin motets, some eight masses (all with organ), a

Te Deum, a Magnificat, and pieces with Dutch texts. Greatly influ-

enced by chant, Franco-Flemish polyphony, and Flemish folksong,

his music is rooted in tradition and typically lyrical, yet not without

modern elements.

PEÑALOSA, FRANCISCO DE (C. 1470–1 APRIL 1528). Spanish

composer. From 1498 he served the court chapel of King Ferdinand.

In 1505 the king sought to obtain a position for him at Seville Ca-

thedral, but the appointment was contested for several years. From

1517 to 1521 he was a member of the papal choir in Rome under Leo

X, after which he returned to his position in Seville. Extant sacred

compositions include 6 complete tenor masses, 6 Magnificats, 5

hymns, 3 Lamentations, and nearly two dozen motets. Almost all of

the sacred works are for four voices. Also extant are 11 villancicos,

mostly for three voices.

PENDERECKI, KRZYSZTOF (23 NOVEMBER 1933– ). Polish

composer and conductor. From 1958 he taught at the Academy of

Music in Kraków; from 1972 until 1987 he served as its director.

Numerous residencies at other academic institutions included one at

Yale University (1973–78).

He attracted international attention early on with several prize-

winning compositions, among them, Psalms of David, for chorus,

perc., cel., hp., 2 pf., and 4 db. (1958)—a piece notable for its jazzy

rhythms and interesting scoring. In subsequent works he established

348 • PEETERS, FLOR

himself as a leader of the Polish avant garde, using graphic notation,

extended instrumental and vocal techniques, and textural writing

(where sound masses are juxtaposed for expressive effect), in an

eclectic mix that often served political-religious expressive ends.

International fame came with the St. Luke Passion, for S, Bar.,

reciter, children’s chorus, 3 choruses, and orch. (1966)—a work that

incorporated his earlier Stabat mater. Subsequent works included

Dies irae, for S, T, B, chorus, and orch. (in memory of Auschwitz

victims, 1967); Utrenia, for S, Mez., T, B, B profundo, 2 choruses,

and orch., a sequel to the Passion, which incorporates aspects of

Eastern Orthodox rites (1971); Magnificat, for 7 male vv., boys’

chorus, 2 choruses, and orch. (1974); a Te Deum, for S, Mez., T, B,

chorus, and orch., which was dedicated to his friend, Pope John Paul

II (1980); Polish Requiem, for S, A, T, B, chorus, and orch. (1984,

rev. 1993); Seven Gates of Jerusalem, an oratorio for 2S, A, T, B,

reciter, 3 choruses, and orch. (1996); and Credo, for S, 2 Mez., T,

B, children’s chorus, chorus, and orch. (1998), among more than a

dozen other pieces.

Stylistic shifts evident in the course of his career make it difficult

to plot a coherent stylistic development. While Penderecki adopted

a more lyrical musical language after 1975, persistent intervallic

and rhythmic repetition, a chromatic melodic language based on se-

quences of semitones and tritones, and somber instrumentation kept

the music from losing its modernistic edge. In any case, it is clear that

rhetorical impact (often with overtones of protest) characterizes his

entire oeuvre. See also EXTENDED VOCAL TECHNIQUES.

PEPPING, ERNST (12 SEPTEMBER 1901–1 FEBRUARY 1981).

German composer active in the church music renewal movement in

Germany. From 1934 he taught at the Kirchenmusikschule in Berlin-

Spandau. His music is typically neo-Baroque in style, combining

Bach-like polyphony with an expanded diatonic harmony reminis-

cent of Paul Hindemith. Choral works include the Spandauer Chor-

buch (20 volumes of choral pieces for two to six voices, 1934–38),

3 German masses (1928, 1929, 1938), of which the so-called Cho-

ralmesse of 1928 actually comprises a series of chorale motets cor-

responding to the Mass Ordinary), a St. Matthew Passion (1950),

and many other motets and liturgical works, most of them to German

texts and almost all of them without accompaniment. An exception is

the Te Deum, for solo vv., chorus, and orch. (1956). He also wrote

PEPPING, ERNST • 349

some secular pieces, among which are some demanding works, as

well as a set of 33 folksongs for two- or three-part female/children’s

chorus (1943).

PEPUSCH, JOHANN CHRISTOPH (1667–20 JULY 1752). Ger-

man composer and theorist, who settled in London around 1704. A

learned music antiquarian, he composed instrumental pieces as well

as music for operas and masques, including probably the overture to

John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. From 1715 to 1731 he was organ-

ist and composer to the Duke of Chandos. Surviving choral works

include one ode (Great Phoebus . . . for S, A, 2 T, B, SSATB, ob.,

tpt., 2 vn., va., and bn.), a Magnificat, 3 Latin motets, and about 10

verse anthems written for the Duke of Chandos.

PERGOLESI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (4 JANUARY 1710–16

MARCH 1736). Italian composer, best remembered for the impact

his works had on the development of comic opera after his untimely

death. Having studied with Francesco Durante in Naples, he be-

came one of the first composers to write in the galant style of the

pre-Classical period, and his reputation grew enormously after his

death—especially popular was his intermezzo La serva Padraona.

Extant choral works, which mix elements of the stile antico with

those of Neapolitan opera, include some seven works for soloists,

chorus, and orchestra, among which are two masses (1731 and

1734), both surviving in several versions, and psalm settings for

Vespers. His most famous sacred work, the Stabat mater, is scored

for soprano and alto soloists, str., and org., and therefore falls outside

the choral repertory.

PERSICHETTI, VINCENT (6 JUNE 1915–14 AUGUST 1987).

American composer, educator, and pianist. A graduate of the Curtis

Institute and the Philadelphia Conservatory, he later taught composi-

tion at the latter (1941–47) and at the Juilliard School (from 1947).

His fluency in a wide range of compositional techniques resulted

in an eclectic stylistic mix. His choral works, which demonstrate a

particular sensitivity to text and typically employ diatonic melodies

with pandiatonic or polytonal harmonies, include Magnificat and

Nunc Dimittis, op. 8, for mixed chorus and pf. (1940); an unac-

companied mass, op. 84 (1960); Stabat mater, op. 92, for SATB

and orch. (1963); Te Deum, op. 93, for SATB and orch. (1963); The

Creation, op. 111, an oratorio for S, A, T, Bar., SATB, and orch.

350 • PEPUSCH, JOHANN CHRISTOPH

(1969); Hymns and Responses for the Church Year (vol. 1, 1955;

vol. 2, 1987); several cantatas; and numerous shorter works, among

which are several to texts by e.e. cummings.

PETIT MOTET. See MOTET.

PETRARCH, FRANCESCO (20 JULY 1304–18 JULY 1374). Ital-

ian poet and celebrated literary scholar. Although most of his writ-

ings were in Latin, it was his Italian poetry that became the inspira-

tion for Pietro Bembo and other Italian poets of the 16th century,

who wished to establish Italian as a literary language. Petrarch’s own

Italian verse was used in frottole and madrigals by Adrian Willaert

and many other composers.

PETRASSI, GOFFREDO (16 JULY 1904–2 MARCH 2003). Italian

composer. Trained as a boy chorister in 16th-century polyphony, he

later encountered the contemporary world of Italian music as a stu-

dent at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. His early works

show the neo-Classical influence of Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravin-

sky, and Alfredo Casella, and often exhibit a certain monumentalism.

In later works he explored the opposition of styles, including tonal,

neo-Classical, and 12-tone approaches. In his choral compositions,

modal vocal writing is often juxtaposed with chromaticism in the in-

strumental parts. Notable choral works with accompaniment include

Magnificat, for S, chorus, and orch. (1940); Coro di morti, a “dra-

matic madrigal” for male vv., brass, 3 pf., perc., and 5 db. (1941);

Noche oscura, a cantata for chorus and orch. (1951); Orationes

Christi, for chorus, brass, vas, and vcs. (1975); and Kyrie, for chorus

and str. (1986). Unaccompanied works include Nonsense (1952);

Sesto non-senso (1964); Motetti per la Passione (1965); and Tre cori

sacri (1983).

PFAUTSCH, LLOYD (14 SEPTEMBER 1921–3 OCTOBER 2003).

American choral conductor and composer. From 1958 to 1992 he

was professor of sacred music and director of choral activities at

Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. For 25 years he

conducted the Dallas Civic Chorus, which he founded. Choral clin-

ics and workshops extended his influence throughout the U.S. His

compositions include, above all, many church anthems.

PHILIPPINE MADRIGAL SINGERS. Philippine chamber choir.

Founded in 1963 by Andrea O. Veneracion, the choir is composed

PHILIPPINE MADRIGAL SINGERS • 351