".
While this statement seems rather vague, the problems with music were reasonably specific. Instruments used in the church were regarded as bawdy. There was serious concern over secular melodies creeping into the Church, often supplying the material for the "cantus firmus". It was felt that the modes were being misused. The complex polyphony was thought to be obscuring and taking precedence over the sacred texts. In 1563, just before the Council broke up, two members were even in favour of banning polyphonic music altogether! The following year, the Pope selected a group of eight Cardinals to enforce the changes addressed at the Council of Trent. .
Palestrina's "Missa Papae Marcelli", a mass for six voices, is thought to date from this time and it is regarded as a work, which exemplifies the ideals of Trent. The simple, serene style certainly conforms to the statement made in 1562. However, the mythological idea that Palestrina single-handedly saved polyphonic church music is somewhat exaggerated. Jacobus de Kerle, an Italianised Netherlander, was writing music in which the clarity of the words, not lost in a labyrinth of complex counterpoint and embellishment, prevailed. In fact, it is likely that it was his mass "Regina Coeli" and "Preces speciales" (which was sung at Trent nearly three times a week) that were regarded by the cardinals as being the demonstrative example of intelligible text. However, it was Palestrina who was commissioned to supervise the revision of the official chant book, the "Graduale" by Pope Gregory XIII. He did not complete the task, which was completed and published in 1614, but the fact that Palestrina was asked to do this shows the high esteem in which the Church held his music.
The Spanish priest Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548 - 1611) may have taken lessons from Palestrina when he enrolled in the Jesuit German College in Rome. He is regarded today as one of the most important composers of the Counter Reformation after Palestrina and perhaps his greatest achievement is said to be the motet "O Magnum Mysterium".
