Album insights
In the cultural and religious realms of the past two millennia, the figure of Mary, the mother of Jesus, has played a prominent role. Acknowledged in the sacred texts of many world religions - the Talmud, Quran, and New Testament - it is said, more or less explicitly, that she conceived her son through the intervention of God. The specific term for her exclusive veneration in the Catholic Church is "Hyperdulia," standing between "Latria," reserved for God alone, and "Dulia," devoted to the saints. Emphasized by four dogmas exclusively pertaining to Mary, defined and affirmed over centuries through encyclicals, legal acts, and council decisions, this unique form of worship has been expressed in various art forms, particularly in music, producing works considered among the most beautiful and emotional in all Western music history.
Alongside Spain, Portugal emerged as a bastion of Catholic orthodoxy during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Portuguese composers of that era, often referred to as the "Golden Age" of Portuguese music, consistently focused on the figure and cult of Mary. They shaped elements of Marian devotion to suit the liturgical needs of their time, reinforcing the ties between the Marian cult and Portuguese history since the kingdom's foundation. Upon Portugal's independence from the Iberian Union (1580-1640), John IV declared the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception as the queen and patron saint of Portugal, foregoing the use of a royal crown thereafter. This reverence extended to music, influencing the works of prominent Portuguese masters like Duarte Lobo, Manuel Cardoso, and Filipe de Magalhães, who dedicated a significant portion of their printed works to Marian compositions.
Unlike his three renowned contemporaries, Pedro de Cristo struggled to publish even a single one of the over 250 works attributed to him today. Remaining in his birthplace of Coimbra, Pedro entered the Santa Cruz Monastery in 1571, a prominent musical center in Europe at that time. Possibly a student of Francisco de Santa Maria, whom he succeeded as the monastery's choirmaster, he held the same position at the São Vicente de Fora Monastery in Lisbon. Skilled in various musical instruments like keyboards, harp, bassoon, and flute, Pedro was described in his obituary as someone who would be greatly missed by the church and his many friends after his fatal fall on December 16, 1618.
Pedro de Cristo's works, stored in the University of Coimbra Library, consist of numerous manuscripts from his time at Santa Cruz Monastery, all imbued with a strong devotion to Mary. His complete Mass, the Missa Salve Regina in manuscript MM 33, is the only work definitively attributed to him. Based on the Gregorian chant of the same name praising Mary as the true queen, its distinctive opening motif recurs in various sections. Additionally, the manuscript contains multi-voiced versions of select verses from the Salve Regina hymn. Characterized by a narrow range of only 16 tones across four voices, a distinctive trait of Cristo is also evident in his composition Virgo prudentissima, contained in the same manuscript, along with Ave maris stella, a hymn for Marian vespers. The latter features odd stanzas in multi-voice settings between pages 50v and 54r of manuscript MM 36.
MM 33 presents Quae est ista and Beata Dei genitrix, attributed to Cristo with some uncertainty. According to Owen Rees, these works were likely added to the manuscript later and feature incomplete texts in some or all voices. Notably, these compositions span a range of three octaves, significantly differing from Cristo’s earlier works. Alma redemptoris mater and Ave regina caelorum, two-part antiphons from MM 36, depict Mary pleading for intercession with her son for the redemption of sinners, showcasing clarity, diverse motifs, and a concise articulation assigning distinct quarter note sequences to successive syllables. Particularly striking is Cristo's approach in Sancta et immaculata and Beata viscera Mariae, lively responsories for Christmas from MM 8 and MM 36, which allude directly to the Nativity scenes. Amidst these works, Cristo's composition of the initial Stabat mater verses stands alongside the joyous Regina caeli, contrasting the profound sorrow of Mary witnessing her crucified son with the exuberant proclamation of Christ's resurrection in a vigorous series of duple and triple meter phrases.
Among the surviving multi-choir works attributed to Cristo - only eight are known - are the Magnificat and the Ave Maria, drawing inspiration from the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel and Mary's visit to her relative Elizabeth. Cristo frequently employs a striking contrast between tutti sections and reduced vocal parts, shaping the character of these pieces - sometimes mellifluous and contemplative, at other times assertive and vigorous, all with Cristo's meticulous attention to the structure, prosody, and narrative of the sung text.