Giovanni da Palestrina (1525-1594)

It has been reported that Palestrina attracted people to buy his parents goods by singing in the streets of Rome. A choirmaster, Santa Maria Maggiore heard him and became his musical teacher. In 1544, Palestrina became a choirmaster in his home town, and he became the choirmaster at St. Peters in 1551. In 1554, he dedicated his first compositions to Julius III and became a member of the papal choir. The pope waived the requirements for Palestrina to become a member of the papal choir. Choir members were required to have taken holy orders and passed an entrance exam, but the pope was that enamored with Palestrina’s compositions and wanted him to continue composing. Palestrina also published a collection of Madrigals (secular music based on a love poem) in 1554, which he would later repent of since they were not sacred.  When Paul IV became pope, he re enacted the requirements for papal choir membership, and Palestrina was forced to leave. He then served at the choir of John Laterman in 1555 and the choir of Santa Maria Maggiare in 1561. He served Pius IV in 1565 and returned to St. Peters in 1571.

Palestrina’s compositions were very important during the Reformation and Counter Reformation. The Council of Trent in 1545 had decreed that sacred music was being tainted by secular music and embellishments. They stressed that the sacred text must be understandable as well. It was during this time in history that Palestrina denounced his secular works and became fully committed to sacred music. Palestrina composed music to be performed mostly in the a capella (no instrumental accompaniment) style and his text was sung syllabically rather than in the melasmatic style (many notes per syllable). Both of these changes enable listeners to clearly hear the text. He focused on creating clarity and balance and was said to have perfected sacred music. Palestrina was also given the title “the Prince of Music” for his 29 motets (polyphonic and polytextual vocal music), the ‘Canticle of Canticles”.