The Pope, the Emperor and the Grand Duke

September 28, 2011 7:55 PM

For centuries, Renaissance composer Alessandro Striggio's "Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno", an enormous setting of the Mass for 40 and 60 voices, was thought to be lost to the ages. A few years ago, UC Berkeley musicologist Davitt Moroney discovered that a copy of the work, attributed to a non-existent composer, was hiding right under our noses, in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. In an hour-long lecture titled "The Pope, the Emperor and the Grand Duke", Professor Moroney recounts the story of the Mass's disappearance and rediscovery, describes the historical significance of the music, and unravels the intriguing geopolitical landscape of 16th century Italy.
posted by archagon (7 comments total)

Ah! The work that (possibly, maybe) inspired my Homeboy's masterpiece Spem in Alium!
posted by Thomas Tallis is my Homeboy at 8:18 PM on September 28, 2011 [6 favorites]

cool story, forensic musicology, great topic.
but mostly, THANKS for the link to Gresham College lectures !
hours and hours of interesting stuff in there.
posted by Abinadab at 1:07 AM on September 29, 2011

Incredible, thanks!

Apparently a recording is available already (via The Guardian).
posted by mahershalal at 2:17 AM on September 29, 2011

Kyrie and Gloria.
posted by mahershalal at 2:21 AM on September 29, 2011

Fascinating, thank you so much.
posted by CheeseLouise at 8:22 AM on September 29, 2011

A complete recording appears as the first link in the External Links section of the Wiki page above. (The piece begins at 28:40.)
posted by IAmBroom at 8:33 AM on September 29, 2011

Is there a transcript of the lecture?
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 10:15 AM on September 30, 2011