Becoming a Priest

Donald Macleod follows the young Victoria as he takes holy orders and seeks to improve his circumstances.

Tomás Luis de Victoria has become the most famed Spanish composer of the Renaissance and ranks alongside Palestrina and Lassus as one of the greatest composers of the 16th century. He was a singer, organist, scholar, teacher, and a priest but it was in composition that he made his most significant impact. His motets, Offices for the Dead and music for Holy Week are admired for their great beauty and intensity and his musical talent thrust him into the orbit of Spain’s royal family and the most senior clerics in Rome. His devotion to God sat at the heart of his creative life; and he wrote, “there is not a single thing as useful as music, which, reaching our hearts soft but deeply, provides a clear benefit not only for our soul but also for our body.”

In today’s programme, we find Victoria working as director of music at the church of Sant’Apollinare in Rome. His duties kept him very busy, including training the choir, tuning and maintaining the church’s organ and providing music for high mass on at least 180 days each year. Around 1575, Victoria was ordained and he was able to find a new position as a priest at San Girolamo. This role came with a better income and lodgings, and gave him more time to devote to composition. Victoria remained there for several years, bringing many of his works into print.

Gaude Maria
The Sixteen
Harry Christophers, director

Nigra sum sed formosa
Ensemble Plus Ultra
Michael Noone, director

Ardens Est Cor Muem
Nordic Voices

Magnificat septimi toni
The Choir of Westminster Cathedral
Martin Baker, director

Lamentations for Maundy Thursday
The Tallis Scholars
Peter Philips, director

Conditor alme siderum a 4
Ensemble Plus Ultra
Michael Noone, director

Aurea luce a 4
Ensemble Plus Ultra
Michael Noone, director

Produced by Luke Whitlock