"Thou art Peter, and on this rock [also "petrus"] I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." In this resounding biblical affirmation, most Christian denominations see Jesus Christ officially passing his ministry into the hands of Peter and founding the apostolic succession. The Roman Catholic Popes trace their lineage all the way back to Peter himself, and have named the basilica of the Vatican for St. Peter and for his bones buried beneath it. Liturgically speaking, the Tu es petrus text proudly adorns two Catholic feasts, those of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29) and San Pietro ad vincula (August 1), the commemoration of Peter in chains. Thus it comes as no surprise that the prince of Roman church musicians in the sixteenth century, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, would have composed music on the text for his papal patrons. Both Palestrina's First (1569) and Second (1572) books of motets contain settings of Tu es petrus, and both motets reflect the splendor of the musical forces he led at the Seminario Romano and at the church of San Pietro itself.

The Tu es petrus motet from 1569 uses the full resources of seven-voiced polyphony to describe one elegant musical contour. The opening motive, shared by each voice in turn, echoes the liturgical chant melody; it cascades slowly down from the highest voices, even as Christ's pronouncement comes from on high. Finally, as the fundamental bass voice enters, all seven voices sing in full force "I will build my church," this time to a striking upward leap of an octave. The second part of the text, describing the "gates of hell," builds in the other direction, from the depths and gradually upwards to the final soaring soprano melisma.

The somewhat better-known, six-voiced version from the 1572 book abandons the antiphon chant and text, instead setting Christ's complete speech (Matt. 6:18-19) as heard during the Mass of St. Peter's Chair in Rome (January 18). Though this bipartite motet, like the seven-voiced one, is unified through its frequent imitative motives, in this piece Palestrina more often resorts to effects of vocal scoring to carry the musical drama. Both parts of the motet open with contrasted antiphonal statements, and both frequently deploy such resonant effects. Both conclude with the same exuberant music that surges upwards at "and to you (Peter) I give the keys of heaven." Popes for centuries have been regaled by his musical compliment.

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