Programme

ECCE REX VESTER

The Passion and Death of Jesus in Tomás Luis de Victoria’s (c.1548 – c.1611)

Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae

(Romae, apud Alexandrum Gardanum 1585)

Hosanna filio David (Gregorian chant)

O Domine Iesu Christe

Christus factus est pro nobis obediens (Gregorian chant)

Passio secundum Ioanem

Vere languores nostros

Popule meus

Sepulto Domino

The Gregorian chant is taken from the Graduale Novum published in Regensburg in 2011. The polyphony by Tomás Luis de Victoria is taken from the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae published in Rome in 1585 by Alessandro Gardano.

Born in Turin in 1967, Monsignor Massimo Palombella was ordained to the priesthood for the Salesian Congregation in 1996. Founder and Musical Director of the Coro Interuniversitario di Roma, he served in the university pastoral ministry of the Diocese of Rome from 1995 to 2010.

He has taught Sacramental Theology, Eschatology, and Music and Liturgy at the Pontifical Salesian University, and at the ‘Guido Cantelli’ Conservatoire, Novara, where, within the postgraduate specialisation in Sacred Music, he lectured in Composition for the Liturgy, Roman Polyphony, and the Legislation of Sacred Music. He also taught the Languages of Music at La Sapienza University, Rome. At the Conservatoire of Turin and at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Rome, he lectured in Liturgy. From 1998 to 2010 he served as Editor of the liturgical music journal Armonia di Voci, published by ElleDiCi.

From 2010 to 2019 he was Musical Director of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir (Cappella Musicale Pontificia ‘Sistina’), appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and reconfirmed in 2015 by Pope Francis. Under his direction, the Sistine Chapel Choir engaged in an exclusive recording partnership with the Deutsche Grammophon label, receiving in 2016 the Echo Klassik Award in the category Choral Recording of the Year for the album Cantate Domino: The Sistine Chapel Choir and the Music of the Popes.

From 2021 until June 2025, he served as Musical Director of the Milan Cathedral Choir (Cappella Musicale del Duomo di Milano). Under his leadership, the Choir not only ensured the full and authentic presence of Ambrosian Chant in every liturgical celebration and undertook a profound renewal of the musical repertoire in accordance with the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council, but also became regularly featured in international festival concert programmes. During this period, the Choir was invited to perform at the Teatro alla Scala on the occasion of the quincentenary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, presenting the Missa Papae Marcelli.

Since June 2025, Monsignor Palombella has served as Superintendent of the Musical Heritage of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano and is Director of the Schola Cantorum Venerandae Fabricae.

Established by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano with the specific aim of fostering and supporting young professional musicians at an international level, the Schola Cantorum is an ensemble dedicated principally to concert performance grounded in rigorous study and scholarly research.

In addition to a regular monthly concert season within the framework of the Scuola della Cattedrale, the ensemble appears at leading international festivals, with particular emphasis on Renaissance music. The Schola Cantorum is directed by Monsignor Massimo Palombella, S.D.B., Superintendent of the Musical Heritage of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano.