Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Composer in the Renaissance
Biography
-Spent most of his life in his birthplace Palestrina. Also, Giovanni spent a chunk of time,
nineteen years, in S. Maria Maggiore. He lived in Rome for a little while, pursuing his career as a composer.
-During this period, he probably trained with one of the Franco-Flemings in Rome. These are Robin Mallapert, Firmin Le Bel, or Jacques Arcadelt.
-Not much is known about his childhood, only that he was a part of the church choir at age seven. But, he had a wife and three sons.
-The type of art Palestrina created was music.Palestrina created works of beauty and his sacred music is still admired today. He created, "104 masses, over 375 motets, 68 offertories, over 65 hymns, 35 Magnificats, over 140 madrigals (both sacred and secular)..
-He worked for mostly the Catholic Church.
-I would closely link Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina to secularism. This is because he wanted to construct secular pieces of music but since he worked for the church, he couldn't.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's Work
Above is a link to an example of his music
-The name of this piece is "First Book of Madrigal".
-It was written in 1577.
-You can find this piece of music on any music website (iTunes, YouTube, etc..).
-There is nothing new about this work. It is his typical way of writing music. It is very church-like.
Bibliography
"Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina." Merriam Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995. Biography in Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
O'Regan, Noel. Institutional Patronage in Post-Tridentine Rome: Music at SS. Trinità dei Pellegrini, 1559–1650. London, 1995.