Christmas at the Sistine Chapel

One of the oldest choirs in the world singing beneath the frescos of Michelangelo; many of the works by Palestrina & Desprez, have never been heard before.

The Vatican Library is home to the most important and extensive collection of sacred music manuscripts in the world and the Sistine Chapel Choir has unlimited access to this extraordinary archive. The Sistine Chapel choir, the oldest choir in the world, has sung this music for centuries, and in recent years has reached new musical heights of excellence.

The Director of the Sistine Chapel, Monsignor Massimo Palombella, has taken on an exciting double challenge. On the one hand, he is presenting polyphonic works from the Vatican Library in new editions reflecting the very highest standards of contemporary academic scholarship in polyphony. On the other hand, he is also developing performance practices for the choir to bring even the most intricate and impossibly difficult motets to life in a way which respects and clarifies the liturgical meaning of the music. Many of the works on this recording by famous names such as Palestrina and Desprez, all written to form part of Papal Celebrations for Advent and Christmas, have never been heard before.

Christmas at the Sistine Chapel
Genre Vocal Music
Recording location Sistine Chapel, Vatican, 2018
Duration 56'
Production Company Deutsche Grammophon, C Major Entertainment, ZDF/arte
Composer Gregorian Chants, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Josquin Desprez, Gregorio Allegri, Tomás Luis de Victoria
Conductor Monsignor Massimo Palombella
Choir Sistine Chapel Choir (Cappella Sistina)
Video format 4K