Download Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da

Giovanni
Pierluigi
da
Palestrina
(b.
1524
or
1525,
Palestrina,
Italy;
d.
1594,
Rome)
Born
Giovanni
Pierluigi,
he
later
added
the
name
of
his
native
town
to
his
surname.
The
first
known
musical
fact
about
“Giannetto”
is
that
he
went
to
Rome
to
study
singing
at
around
age
13.
He
is
listed
in
1537
as
a
member
of
the
Cappella
Liberiana
at
Santa
Maria
Maggiore.
He
became
organist
at
the
Cathedral
of
Palestrina
and
was
later
appointed
director
of
the
Pontifical
Choir
in
the
Julian
Chapel
at
St.
Peter’s
in
Rome.
Palestrina
was
primarily
a
composer
of
masses
and
sacred
motets.
His
music
is
often
referred
to
as
the
perfect
example
of
Renaissance
religious
composition
because
of
the
degree
to
which
he
eliminated
secular
elements
in
his
sacred
writing.
Many
of
his
masses
use
plainchant,
which
he
sometimes
followed
exactly
and
other
times
modified
in
unique
ways.
His
writing
is
clear
and
serene,
with
texts
expressively
set;
his
contrapuntal
lines
are
elegantly
balanced.
Palestrina’s
counterpoint
remains
a
model
for
music
students
today.
Like
many
composers
of
his
day,
Palestrina
adhered
to
the
dictates
of
the
Council
of
Trent.
He
maintained
his
own
voice,
though.
In
dedicating
a
set
of
motets
to
Pope
Gregory
XIII,
Palestrina
said
“I
have
used
a
kind
of
music
somewhat
livelier
than
I
have
been
accustomed
to
use
in
church
music,
for
this
I
felt
that
the
subject
itself
demanded.”
This
composer's
works
in
St.
Martin's
Chamber
Choir's
repertoire:
Doctor
bonus
Missa
Papae
Marcelli
O
quantus
luctus
Stabat
Mater