PALESTRINA, Giovanni Pierluigi da
b Palestrina, c152
d Rome, 2 February 1594, aged c sixty-nine

He was a chorister at the Cathedral of Sant' Agapit, and in 1537 joined the choir school of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. He became organist and choirmaster of Sant' Agapit in 1544, remaining there until 1551. He was appointed master of the choir which sang the services at St Peter's in Rome, and then went to St John Lateran as maestro di cappella for the next five years. In 1561 he returned to Santa Maria Maggiore, and from 1565 to 1571 taught at the Jesuit seminary in Rome. He was ordained as a priest, but renounced his religious vows. Two marriages had brought him substantial wealth, and when he contemplated retirement to Palestrina he was both prosperous and famous. However, he was taken ill as he prepared to leave Rome, and died some days later.

1554 (c29)

p First Book of Masses

1563 (c38)

p First Book of Motets

1567 (c42)

Missa Papae Marcelli

1569 (c44)

p Second Book of Masses

1570 (c45)

p Third Book of Masses Missa Brevis

1584 (c59)

p Settings of The Song of Solomon

1590 (c65)

p Aeterna Christi Munera, mass Stabat Mater (c1590)

Palestrina also composed many motets and madrigals.