The Interwar Return of Perosi
In the radiant setting of Easter Sunday in 1934, the Church also rejoiced at the elevation to the altars of John Bosco (†1888) by Pope Pius XI (†1939). Among the elements that made this celebration even more memorable, there was the musical mastery of Lorenzo Perosi (†1956),
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who, with his remarkable compositions, restored sacred music to be a sincere and worthy expression of divine worship, freeing it from a certain decadence that had affected it in some cases in the period immediately preceding him.[1]
Perosi returned after an absence of over fifteen years. Starting in 1918, the maestro was afflicted by severe mental disorders that rendered him incapable of directing the Pontifical Choir, a task that was temporarily passed to his brother Marziano. Despite sporadic episodes of physical and mental problems, in 1933, on the occasion of the Holy Year proclaimed by Pope Pius XI, Perosi returned to conduct the Sistine Chapel Choir and resumed composing, creating works such as the Missa Redemptionis and a Te Deum, both for eight voices, in two choirs.
In 1934, Pope Pius XI entrusted Perosi with the task of composing music for the upcoming celebrations in honor of the Piedmontese saint, of whom Perosi was a devoted admirer. In the diary of the Sistine Chapel, on the date of April 1, it reads:
Maestro Perosi, at the Pope’s request, specifically wrote a Mass and a Te Deum for eight voices (in two choirs) which were performed under his own conducting […]. These compositions are modern in style, with many harmonic audacity and, in some points, surprising effect. Written in a few days, it is amazing that a mind considered exhausted like Perosi’s could conceive and treat with all musical logic the two great works.[2]
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Particularly noteworthy was the Gloria, hailed as an excellent example of modern harmonization. Another remarkable passage was the Credo, which, following a fugue on the words Et vitam venturi sæculi, concludes with a suggestive and delicate pianissimo.
What prompted Perosi’s resurgence after a prolonged hiatus? An article by lawyer and musicologist Adriano Belli, published in L’Avvenire d’Italia on March 15, 1934, provides valuable information.[3] In it, it is recounted how Perosi, considered by many almost a finished artist, surprised everyone by re-emerging with renewed vitality and energy. It was as if a miracle by Don Bosco himself had awakened him.
Perosi’s motivation lay in his deep devotion to the Holy Father and his desire to be an obedient son of the Church. The Pope had asked him in December 1933 to compose the new works in honor of Don Bosco, and Perosi could only accept with joy and gratitude. “Although desiring to obey, I had to examine and see if I could compose. I could have been… rusty after such a long break!” It was a fast but intense creative process: two months to mature the ideas and five days to put them on paper: “On January 29 (I remember it precisely) in the morning, I took that paper and began to write. On February 2, I called Monsignor Rella, my trusted collaborator, and handed him the Mass. Two days later, I gave him the Te Deum.”
