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such as Josquin des Prez
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and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
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would stand when they sang before the pope.
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Now because this Papal Chapel here
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sang without any accompaniment
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without any accompaniment of instruments what so ever,
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even the organ,
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that style of singing came to be called a cappella,
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literally a cappella Sistina,
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so unaccompanied singing means without instruments.
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If you are in an a capella singing group here at Yale,
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you are a descendant of this tradition of singing