Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Born in Palestrina (Praeneste) or 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.

Life

He is first known to have been in Rome in 1537, when he is listed as a choirboy there; he studied with Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. There was a persistent story that he studied under Claude Goudimel, which originated in the 19th century, but recent scholarship has disproved this: 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.

Related Topics:
1537 - Robin Mallapert - Firmin Lebel - Claude Goudimel - 19th century - 1544 - 51 - Cappella Giulia - Masses - Pope Julius III - Morales

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Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome during the next decade (notably St. John Lateran, from 1555 to 1560, and St. Maria Maggiore, from 1561 to 1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel, and remained at St. Peter's for the rest of his life. The decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally; he lost his brother, both his sons, and his wife in three separate outbreaks of the plague (1572, 1575 and 1580 respectively). He seems to have considered becoming a priest at this time, but instead he married again, this time to a wealthy widow; this finally gave him financial independence (he was not well paid as choirmaster) and he was able to compose prolifically until his death.

Related Topics:
1555 - 1560 - 1561 - 1566 - 1571 - St. Peter's - 1570s - 1572 - 1575 - 1580

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