The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Festa, Costanzo

FESTA, Costanzo, cōs-tän'zō fes'tä, Italian composer: b. Rome about 1496; d. there, 10 April 1545. He became a member of the pontifical choir 1517, and composed much church music, many madrigals for three voices, motets and litanies, many of his manuscript scores being still preserved in the archives of the pontifical chapel and the Vatican. His &lsquo;Te Deum&rsquo; is sung at the election of new popes, the appointment of new cardinals and at the Festival of the Holy Sacrament. It was published in Rome in 1596.