List of Roman Catholic Church musicians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of Roman Catholic Church musicians is a list of people who perform or compose Roman Catholic music, a branch of Christian music. Names should be limited to those whose Catholicism affected their music and should preferably only include those musicians whose works have been performed liturgically in a Catholic service, or who perform specifically in a Catholic religious context.
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[edit] Traditional and hymnal
- Giovenale Ancina, Beatified writer of spiritual songs.
- Thoinot Arbeau, Catholic priest who composed the originally secular Ding Dong Merrily on High.
- Jean de Brébeuf(Canonized Jesuit) who composed the Huron Carol.
- William Byrd, who was active (although somewhat underground in matters of faith) in Protestant England under Elizabeth I.
- Hermannus Contractus, the Alma Redemptoris Mater said to have been written by him.
- Tommaso da Celano, Dies Irae
- Guillaume Dufay, worked for the Papal chapel.
- Frederick William Faber-Catholic convert who wrote Catholic hymns like Faith of Our Fathers.[1]
- Jacobus Gallus, Slovenian composer of sacred music and member of the Cistercians.
- Hucbald, ninth century Benedictine composer and music theorist.
- Luca Marenzio, Madrigale spirituale
- Domenico Mustafa, Castrato composer for the Sistine Chapel choir.
- Frederick Oakeley, convert who translated Adeste Fideles
- Paul the Deacon, Benedictine who wrote Ut queant laxis.
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, "a tremendous influence on the development of Roman Catholic church music."
- Thomas Tallis, "The earliest works by Tallis that survive are devotional antiphons to the Virgin Mary."
- Tomás Luis de Victoria, numerous religious works and was a priest at Descalzas Reales.[2]
- Samuel Webbe, English composer of Catholic hymns.
[edit] Classical composers who composed Catholic sacred music
Note: The term classical music has been used broadly to describe many eras which do not fit the label. Initially the term specifically meant 1730-1820 (the Classical period), but for this list the period from the Baroque period to the modern era will be included in this section. This is because Renaissance and especially Medieval music tends to be dominated, in the West, by Catholic religious music.
- Paolo Agostino, all his surviving works are religious.
- Mateo Albéniz, Spanish composer and priest.
- Vittoria Aleotti, A nun who was perhaps the first woman to compose sacred music.
- Caterina Assandra, Benedictine nun and composer.
- Frantisek Brixi, He wrote some 290 church compositions and was Kapellmeister of St. Vitus Cathedral.
- Severo Bonini, Benedictine and Baroque composer of sacred music.
- Francesca Caccini, some motets.
- Luigi Cherubini, 11 masses [3]
- Edward Elgar, composer whose The Dream of Gerontius is based on a poem by Cardinal Newman
- Christoph Willibald Gluck, Knighted by Pope Benedict XIV.
- Henryk Górecki - Polish composer who composes religious music.[4]
- Pietro Guglielmi, In 1793 he became maestro di cappella at St Peter's, Rome.
- Joseph Haydn, 14 Masses, 2 Te Deums and a Stabat Mater. The Catholic Encyclopedia [5] is positive on him, but Pope Pius X was critical.
- Franz Liszt, became a Franciscan and composed some religious themed works. [6]
- Antonio Lotti, Made his career at St Mark's Basilica and composed numerous Masses.
- Olivier Messiaen, "Many of his compositions depict what he termed 'the marvellous aspects of the faith', drawing on his unshakeable Roman Catholicism."
- Claudio Monteverdi, Composed Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin) and was ordained in 1633[7]
- Don Lorenzo Perosi, Catholic priest and Director of the Sistine Choir under five Popes.[8]
- Carl Georg Reutter, church composer.
- Josef Rheinberger, twelve masses and a Stabat Mater.[9]
- Gioacchino Rossini, Stabat Maters and a requiem.
- Franz Schubert, Several religious works and masses
- Antonio Salieri, Ten hymns, nine psalms, and more.
- Antonio Soler, Spanish priest and composer.[10]
- Giuseppe Verdi, a few religious works with his Requiem the most noted.
- Antonio Vivaldi, called "The Red Priest" because of his hair. His religious music includes two Glorias, the Magnificat, the Dixit Dominus, etc.
- Carl Maria von Weber, Popular Catholic religious works in the nineteenth century.
- Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, was appointed choir master of the Sistine Chapel in 1804.
[edit] Roman School
The Roman School, this is not a single person, but a group of composers strongly linked to the Vatican and the Council of Trent. Many of them were, or became, priests. Although much of their work is too early to be mentioned here it did survive into the early Baroque. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is generally seen as the most famous member. As a list of members is in the article on the subject, repetition of names in it should be normally avoided. Although Palestrina is notable enough to be in both.
[edit] Twentieth century and contemporary music
[edit] Popular composers and artists
Contemporary Catholic music takes many forms, from rock to folk. The genre of music, although not as popular as evangelical Christian music, is continuing to grow.
Contemporary Catholic musicians tend toward two main forms of expression: liturgical and non-liturgical. In a liturgical context, music is performed in a manner intended to highten the spiritual atmosphere of a liturgical service, such as during Sunday mass, Eucharistic adoration or Stations of the Cross. The non-liturgical context, though very much worshipful, usually takes the form of a concert without the presence of a liturgical service. Non-liturgical settings are mainly focused on building Christian fellowship within Catholic communities. Non-liturgical artists find the opportunity to uniquely share their faith through their personal lyrics, and directly to audiences between songs. Though Catholic musicians tend toward one expression over the other, many will minister within both expressions with the appropriate music styles.
The following popular composers and performers are of note:
[edit] Liturgical Artists
- John McCormack- sang for an International Eucharistic Congress and declared a Count by Pope Pius XI.
- James MacMillan - contemporary Scottish Composer
- Marilla Ness - devoutly Catholic Northern Irish singer
- Seán Ó Riada - composed several Irish language Masses
- Dana Scallon - devoutly Catholic Northern Irish singer currently based in USA
- John Michael Talbot - Contemporary Catholic musician who won acclaim in Contemporary Christian music circles.
[edit] Non-liturgical Artists
- Nick Alexander - parodist
- Father Stan Fortuna- Catholic jazz and hip hop
- Critical Mass - Critically acclaimed Canadian rock band, winners of numerous awards, including two Canadian Gospel Music Association Awards for Best Rock Album. Performed for Pope John Paul II in Toronto in 2002.
- James MacMillan - contemporary Scottish Composer
- Ryan Meyers - Catholic folk/pop rock (Mississippi)
- Marilla Ness - devoutly Catholic Northern Irish singer
- Oremus Catholic Rock
- Seán Ó Riada - composed several Irish language Masses
- Rise - Catholic rock http://www.risefan.com
- Dana Scallon - devoutly Catholic Northern Irish singer currently based in USA
- John Michael Talbot - Contemporary Catholic musician who won acclaim inContemporary Christian music circles.
- Mary Lou Williams - Catholic jazz in the 1970s
- Notker Wolf - Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation played for a Christian rock group.
- Cheer Up Charlie - Catholic industrial rock/rap (Florida)
- Crispin - Catholic/Christian latin funk (Texas).
- Fred-D - Catholic "underground" rap (California)
- Manuel3 - Catholic soul/funk (Iowa)
- Oaks of Justice - Catholic/Christian fusion rock (California)
- Pierced - Catholic hard rock (Louisianna)
- Point 5 Covenant - Catholic hip-hop (Texas)
- Remnant - Catholic hard rock (Texas)
- Righteous-B - Catholic hip-hop (Texas)
- Seven Sorrows - Catholic hard rock/heavy metal (California)
[edit] Liturgical music
- Main article: Contemporary Catholic liturgical music
Many composers have contributed to the distinct sound of contemporary Catholic liturgical music, including Marty Haugen, Dan Schutte, and the St. Louis Jesuits. For more details, see Contemporary Catholic liturgical music.
