MUSTAFÀ, DOMENICO. - Musician, born at Sellano (Foligno) on 16 April 1829, died at Montefalco on 14 March 1912. Endowed with a fine soprano voice, in 1848 he was admitted among the singers of the Sistine Chapel.
Having succeeded the Baini in directing the Sistine Chapel at a time of extreme decline in sacred music, since the melodramatic form had ended by carrying everything away, M. succeeded only in part in restoring its fortunes, being admired more as a conductor and singer than as a composer. The castrated singers, among whom M. himself was numbered, represented
by then a past age, and the fresh voices of the pueri cantores were naturally to take their place; while for sacred composition it was urgent to abandon the profane style and return to the severity proper to the liturgical genre. A profound connoisseur of Palestrina and an intelligent interpreter of him, M. could not escape the prevailing trend of the time even in this respect. Yet the need for a revival of ancient polyphony was beginning to make itself felt, and M. perceived the new demands of sacred art. In 1898 Perosi was called to direct the Sistine Chapel; nevertheless, M. continued to struggle, claiming to superimpose his own directives upon those of the young master. In 1903, however, his resignation was accepted and he retained the title of honorary director.