Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (born in Palestrina (Praeneste) near Rome, 1525, latest February 1, 1526 – February 2, 1594 in Rome) was an Italian composer of Renaissance music. He was the most famous 16th century representative of

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (born in Palestrina (Praeneste) near Rome, 1525, latest February 1, 1526 – February 2, 1594 in Rome) was an Italian composer of Renaissance music. He was the most famous 16th century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. Palestrina had a tremendous influence on the development of Roman Catholic church music, and his work can be seen as a summation of Renaissance polyphony.

Palestrina spent most of his career in Rome. Documents suggest he first visited the Eternal City in 1537, when he is listed as a chorister at Santa Maria Maggiore. He studied with Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. (There was a persistent story that Palestrina studied under Claude Goudimel; the story originated in the 19th century, but according to recent study Goudimel was never in Rome.) In 1544-51 Palestrina was organist of the principal church of his native city (St. Agapito, Palestrina), and in the latter year became maestro di cappella at the Julian Chapel (Cappella Giulia) in Rome. With his first published compositions, a book of masses which he presented to Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina), he made so favorable an impression that he was appointed musical director of the Julian Chapel. In addition, this was the first book of masses by a native Italian composer: most composers of sacred music in Italy at that time were from the Netherlands, France or Spain. In fact his book of masses was actually modeled on one by Morales, and the woodcut in the front is an almost exact copy of the one from the book by the Spaniard.