Download Pierlugi da Palestrina, Giovanni

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Class List #3
Physics 331
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was a famous Italian Renaissance composer. Born in
1525, he managed to compose more than one hundred masses and two hundred fifty motets in
his lifetime. Palestrina married in 1547, bringing three children to his family. He began his
musical career in Rome, where he was taken as a child. His first performances were first as a
choirboy for the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Giovanni Palestrina’s time and energy spent
teaching music at the church did not go unnoticed, as he gained attention from the Bishop. In
fact, this Bishop came to be known as Pope Julius III and was a colleague of Palestrina through
his time as Pope. Palestrina dedicated his first book of masses to Julius III, and is responsible for
a number of the hymns that echo the halls of Julius II’s St. Peter’s Basilica. Unfortunately, the
papal inauguration of Paul IV forced Giovanni Palestrina out of his position with the church (as
Paul IV’s policies forbade married men to serve in the papal choir). Palestrina directed the choir
of St. John Lateran for the following five years, until taking a year away from work. For the next
couple of decades, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina pursued various music careers in prestigious
religious establishments; teaching music to scholars of various levels of education. Due to his
devotion to the Roman church, throughout his career, Palestrina is often referred to as the most
famous 16th century representative of the Roman school of music composition. Giovanni
Palestrina’s compositions were polyphonic; meaning that their musical texture combines
melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic aspects together, to shape an overall sound. His compositions
had a great influence on Pope Marcellus Mass’ decision to save polyphony from banishment.
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O Magnum Mysterium (1569 in Rome) ---> ​https://youtu.be/hyDRSI1joa8
Viri Galilaei (1601 in Venice) ---> ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubTFKW24_ZI
Pope Marcellus Mass: Gloria (1567) ---> ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSo8rRn-vEA
All of these songs present good examples of polyphony and vocal interplay.