The phrases (Mottetenköpfe) opening each of the two sections of Palestrina's madrigal Vestiva i colli are both easily memorable melodies that also appear in old German and Dutch folksongs such as Es fur ein maidlein übern see (corresponding to part one of the madrigal) or Maudit soit and Ach herziges K. (both by Isaac, corresponding to part two). Thus they are very apt to structure Palestrina's Missa Vestiva i colli and appear at the beginning of significant sections of the Mass movements. Palestrina, however, does not restrict himself to the two opening phrases, but occasionally also draws upon inner sections. Several changes adjust the borrowings to the sacred character (Devotio christiana) of the Mass: slower tempo (mensuration), avoidance of leap, and simplification of the declamation. If Palestrina maintains leaps, they can be interpreted as expressions of joyful passages, as they occur in the "Gloria." Moser discusses six more Masses built on Palestrina's Vestiva i colli. While Giovanni Maria Nanino drew on both the Mass and the madrigal, Ruggiero Giovanelli used only the former. The madrigal furnishes the material for the remaining Masses (see list below). Moser believed that Felice Anerio also based his work on Vestiva i colli, an assumption the author had to correct two issues later (p. 376). Anerio's Mass borrows from Palestrina's eight-part motet Laudate dominum omnes gentes. Palestrina's madrigal influenced even completely different genres. Nikolaus Bleyer's Vestiva [i] colli del Palestrina: Modo di Passeggiar con diverse inventionj non regolati al Canto for violin (from around 1620, according to Moser) paraphrases especially the beginning of its model in a virtuosic way.

Works: Palestrina: Missa Vestiva i colli (132-37); Nanino: Missa Vestiva i colli (137-41); Giovanelli: Missa Vestiva i colli (137-41); Belli: Missa Vestiva i colli (141-42); Nucius: Missa super Vestiva i colli (143-44); Biondi (Cesena): Missa Vestiva i colli (144-47); Rudolph de Lasso: Missa Vestiva i colli (148-49); Anerio: Missa Laudate Dominum omnes gentes (149-52, 376); Bleyer: Vestiva [i] colli del Palestrina (152-54); Banchieri: La pazzia senile (376).

Index Classifications: 1500s

Contributed by: Andreas Giger