Porpora’s Accidental Heresy

In sacred music, holy words can become an excuse for showing off. When the music is great, we forgive repetition—think of Handel’s huge ‘Amen’ chorus in Messiah, a dazzling fugue spun from a single word.

But repetition gets risky when the composer isn’t Handel. In Latin church texts, phrases are often repeated, and unless you truly understand the language you can make a theological mess. Porpora—Haydn’s teacher—learned that the hard way. Setting the creed, he arranged the words so it effectively came out: ‘Credo, non credo, non credo in Deum’ (‘I believe; I don’t believe; I don’t believe in God’). Churchmen were scandalized, and only by admitting he did not understand the Latin and had no such intention did he escape serious trouble.

The author adds that weaker composers sometimes manage to combine bad poetry, worse theology, and poor music—all at once.