Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da
Period: Renaissance
Born: c. 1525 in Palestrina (near Rome), Italy
Died: Wednesday, February 2, 1594 in Rome, Italy
Nation of Origin: Italy
Major Works:
105 masses
250 or more motets
Many liturgical works for voices
One book of secular madrigals
Mass of Pope Marcellus
Missa ad fugam
Repleatur os meum
Veni sponsa Christi
Improperia
Stabat Mater
Other Information:
Born near Rome in a town called Palestrina. Died in Rome. "The Prince of Music," as choirmaster at St. Peters in Rome, was the major representative of the Council of Trent's reforms. His style is based in Franco-Flemish imitative counterpoint, voice parts flow in continuous rhythm, with a new melodic motive for each phrase of the text. Palestrina avoided chromaticism, and he allowed cadences to accurately define tonal centers. Dissonances were handled discreetly.
Composer Bibliography:
Coates, Henry, Palestrina, Hyperion Press, June 1979, ISBN: 0883557320
General Bibliography:
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Renaissance, W.W. Norton & Company; November 1959, ISBN: 0393095304
Sachs, Curt, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World , W. W. Norton & Company, 1943, ASIN: 0393097188
Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group, December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257
Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc., January 2004, ISBN: 0195170679
Rutherford-Johnson, Tim, Kennedy, Michael, and Kennedy, Joyce The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford University Press, 6th Edition, 2012, ISBN: 0199578109
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Biographical essay from Wikipedia
