A-ve Ma-ri-a, a-ve Ma-ri-a,
gra-ti-a ple-na,
Do-mi-nus te-cum, Do-mi-nus te-cum,
be-ne-di-cta tu, be-ne-di-cta tu
in mu-li-e-ri-bus
et be-ne-di-ctus fru-ctus ven-tris tu-i, Je-sus.
San-cta Ma-ri-a, San-cta Ma-ri-a,
re-gi-na coe-li, re-gi-na coe li,
dul-cis et pi-a, o Ma-ter De-i
o-ra pro no-bis pec-ca-to ri-bus;
ut cum e-le-ctis te vi-de-a-mus,
ut cum e-le-ctis te vi-de-a-mus.
PALESTEINA GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA (Joannes Petraloysius
Praenestinus)
born at Palestrina near Rome probably in 1514-15 died in Rome Feb 2 1594.
His family name was Sante in the earlier editions of his works he is
called either simply Gianetto or Gianetto with differently spelled affixes
such as Palestrina Pallestrina Palestrino Palestina Pelestrino with or
without the da sometimes also Jo de Palestina. He is called JP Aloisius by
his biographer Baini The date of his birth has been much disputed and was
formerly set at 1524 but the best later authorities now agree that it must
have been ten years earlier.
He was the son of Pierluigi and Maria
Gismondi Sante people in a humble station His musical gift is said to have
been first discovered by the maestro di cappella of Sta Maria Maggiore in
Rome It is almost certain that he was sent at an early age to Claude
Goudimel's music school where he laid the foundations of his unsurpassed
mastery in counterpoint The first record of his occupying an official
position is his
succeeding Francesco Rosseli as maestro de putti master of
the boys at the Cappella Giulia in February or March 1551 the chapter of St
Peter conferring upon him the title of maestro della cappella della Basilica
Vaticana it is estimated that he began his professional career as a musician
in 1544 In 1554 was published his first book of masses dedicated to Pope
Julius HI On Jan 1 1555 he was made maestro di cappella of the Pontifical
Chapel Giovanni Animuccia succeeding him at his former post at St Peter's It
is evident that his exceptional genius must have been pretty well recognized
at this period for the pope dispensed him from passing the strict
examination prescribed in the Motu proprio of Aug 5 1553 for all applicants
for admission to the Pontifical Chapel and also overlooked the regulation
that all members of the chapel must be priests for at that time Palestrina
was already married and had several sons But although these infractions of
the rules of the chapel were winked at also by Julius's successor Mar cellus
H who had been a patron of Pales trina's before his accession to the Papal
Chair that stern reformer in church matters Paul IV expelled him and two
other married singers from the chapel with a very small pension July 30 1555
so that he held the position for only seven months It was however a stroke
of the irony of fate that Palestrina should afterwards have been a potent
agent in thwarting one of Paul's most cherished reformatory measures the
abolition of contrapuntal church music and the return to the plain Gregorian
chant On Oct 1 1555 Palestrina was appointed maestro di cappella at San
Giovanni in Laterano but as this post was poorly paid he obtained a release
from it and in 1561 the
appointment to the similar position at Sta Maria Maggiore In
1563 came the most famous event of his life the writing of the Mar cellus
Mass and with it the so called saving of the art of music This whole
transaction which ended in nullifying in so far as music itself was
concerned the radical reforms in church music proposed by Paul IV and
discussed at great length at the Council of Trent 1545 63 has been made the
theme of almost endless romancing A brief account of it may be found under
the heading Missa Papse MarceUi and a detailed one in Ambros iv 7 20 The
result to Palestrina was his being made composer to the Pontifical Chapel an
honorary position which has been held only by him and by Felice Anerio In
1571 on the death of Animuccia he was made maestro di cappella at St Peter's
which post he held until his death Other supplementary posts held by him
were those of composer to the Congregazione del Oratorio founded by S
Filippo Neri of maestro concertatore to Prince Buoncompagni in 1581 and
occasional teacher in GM Nanini's music school Pope Gregory XTTT intrusted
him with the revision of the Eoman Gradual and Antiphonal an enormous task
in which he was assisted by his pupil Giudetti but left unfinished at his
death In 1585 Pope Sixtus Y tried to reinstate him in his former position of
maestro di cappella to the Pontifical Chapel but the jealous opposition of
the singers was too energetic to be overcome x Palestrina stands universally
accepted as the greatest genius not only of the great Koman contrapuntal
school but of the whole epoch of strict simple contrapuntal composition
which reached its
culmination in him The only two men who could in any way
dispute his supremacy in this style wrere Giovanni Gabrieli and Orlando
Lasso but making all due allowance for the greatness of these men the palm
of superiority must still be awarded to Palestrina The romantic legends that
grew up around the nucleus of fact concerning the part he and his Marcellus
Mass played in the history of church music after the Council of Trent for a
long time misled musical historians into looking upon him as an important
innovator in music He was dubbed not only the Prince of Music but the Father
of Music But Palestrina was in no sense a musical innovator his tendencies
were conservative he never departed from the field f composition which had
been so well worked by his great predecessors In the Marcellus Mass itself
there was not a single element of novelty either in style or construction
lPalestrina's mission was to complete and perfect a great musical epoch not
to pave the way for a new one His compositions are all in strict simple
counterpoint in the Gregorian modes for unaccompanied chorus he made
frequent use of almost every contrapuntal subtlety known to the older
Netherlandish composers but with a completeness of technical mastery and an
unfailing sense for ideal beauty that wholly veiled the merely scholastic
side of these devices His long life was a hard working but not particularly
eventful one he saw a line of fifteen popes from Leo X to Clement VHI ascend
the throne and pass away and he held some of the most brilliant musical
positions of his day but the salaries were small and there is little doubt
that he was miserably poor the greater part of his life The portrait on this
page is a facsimile of part of the frontispiece of his first book of masses
representing him presenting the book to the pope It is the only contemporary
likeness of him Works I Masses Joannis Petri Aloysii Prsenestini in Basilica
S Petri de Urbe cappellae Magistri Missarum liber primus
four 4 part masses and one in 5 parts Rome 1554 2d ed 1572
3d ed containing a 5 part Requiem and a 6 part mass 1591 Mis sarum liber
secundus four 4 part and two 5 part masses and the 6 part Missa Papse
Marcelii Rome 1567 2d ed Venice 1598 Missarum liber tertius four 4 part two
5 part including tlie Uhomme arme and two 6 part masses Rome 1570 Missarum
liber quartus four 4 part and three 5 part masses Rome 1582 2d ed ib 1582 3d
ed ib 1590 Missarum liber quintus three 4 part two 5 part and two 6 part
masses Rome 1590 2d ed Venice 1591 Missse liber sextus four 4 part masses
and one 5 part Rome 1594 2d ed containing also a 6 part Ave Maria Venice
1596 Missse liber septimus two 4 part and two 5 part masses published after
Palestrina's death by his son Hvgin Rome 1594 2d ed ib 1595 3d ed containing
also a 6 part mass Venice 1605 Missarum liber octavus two 4 part two 5 part
masses and one 6 part with perpetual double canon Rome 1599 2d ed ib 1609
Missarum liber nonus two 4 part two 5 part and two 6 part masses Rome 1599
2d ed ib 1608 Missarum liber decimus two 4 part two 5 part and two 6 part
masses Rome 1600 Missarum liber un decimus one 4 part two 5 part and two 6
part masses Rome 1600 Missarum liber duodecimus two 4 part two 5 part and
two 6 part masses Rome 1601 Mis sae octonis vocibus concinendse four 8 part
masses Venice 1601 Lauda Sion Pater noster and Jesu nostra redemptio in 4
parts Beatus Laurentius Panem nostrum Salve Regina and O Sacrum Convivium
for 5 parts Ecce ego Joannes and Veni Creator Spiritus for 6 parts and other
unedited masses preserved in the Library of the Vatican also a collection in
the Minerva Library Rome II Motets Motecta fes torum totius anni cum
communione sanctorum quaternis vocibus liber primus Rome 1585 and 1590
Venice 1601 and Rome 1622 Mottettorum quae partim
quinis partim senis partim septenis vocibus concinantur
liber primus Rome 1569 2d ed Venice 1586 3d ed 1600 Mottettorum liber
secundus discovered by Baini Venice 1572 Mottettorum liber tertius Rome 1575
Venice 1581 1589 and 1594 Mottettorum quatuor vocibus partim plena voce e
partim partibus vocibus liber secundus Venice 1581 Rome 1590 Venice 1604
1606 Mottettorum quinque vocibus liber quartus Rome 1584 2d ed Venice 1584
10th ed Rome 1650 Mottettorum quinque vocibus liber quintus Rome 1584 Venice
1588 1595 1601 Three books of motets for 4 5 and 6 voices were collected by
Baini HL Lamentations of Jeremiah 23 Lamentations in 4 parts liber primus
Rome 1588 Venice 1589 and two other works in 4 5 and 6 parts collected by
Baini IV Hymns Hymni totius anni secundum SRE consuetudinem quatuor vocibus
con cinendi nee non hymni religionum Rome and Venice 1589 Rome 1625 V Offer
toria Rome 1593 Venice 1594 1596 VI Magnificat Magnificat octo tonorum liber
primus Rome 1591 2d ed Venice 1591 also of 5 6 and 8 part unedited
Magnificats collected by Baini VII Litanies Litanige Deiparae Virginis Rome
1600 VIII Madrigali spirituali libro primo Venice 1581 libro secundo Rome
1594 IX Psalms Sacra omnia solemn Psalmodia Vespertina Venice 1596 X
Madrigals Libro primo a quattro voci Rome 1555 Venice 1568 1570 1594 1596
1605 libro primo a cinque voci Venice 1581 secundo libro a quattro voci
Venice 1586 Many of Palestrina's masses were edited and published by Al
fieri in his Raccolta di Musica in cui con tengonsi i capolavori di celebri
compositori italiani Rome 1841 and Alfieri also published Raccolta di
mottetti a quattro voci di Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Ludo vico de
Vittoria di Avia e di Felice Anerio ib 1841 A number of Palestrina's works
were published by Proske in his collection of
Musica Divina The most of Palestrina's MSS are in the
Library of the Vatican and 37 motets are in the Library of the Conservatoire
in Paris Breitkopf & Hartel's edition of Palestrina Werke I 5 6 and 7 part
Motets II 5 6 and 8 part Motets III 5 6 and 8 part Motets IV 5 part Motets V
4 parfc Motets VI 5 6 and 8 part Motets VII 4 6 8 and 12 part Motets VlLL 4
part Hymns IX 5 part Offertories X Masses 1st Book XI 2d Book XII 3d Book
XHX 4th Book XIV 5th Book XV 6th Book XVI 7th Book XVK 8th Book XVIH 9 Books
of Masses XIX 10 Books of Masses XXIV 15 Books of Masses XXVI Three Books of
Litanies for 4 5 6 and 8 voices and six 12 part Motets and Psalms XXVTL 35
Magnificats in 3 Books XXVIH 3 4 5 and 6 part Madrigals 3 Books XXIX 5 part
Madrigals 2 Books 15 Books of Masses 3 Books of Lamentations in 4 5 T A rr
and 6 parts 3 Books f J yL of Litanies in 4 and 6 parts 2 Books of
Magnificats in 4 5 6 and 8 parts and a Supplement of miscellaneous works
biographical data and docu ments etc Baini Memorie storico critiche della
vita e delle opere di G Pierluigi da Palestrina 2 vols Home 1828 German
translations by Kandler and Kiesewetter 1834 C Winterfeld Palestrina seine
Werke und deren Bedeutung fur die Ge schichte der Tonkunst Breslau 1832 Bau
inker Palestrina Freiburg 1871 Fetis vi Ambros iv 1 Clement Mus celebres 7
Eiemann Naumann Italien ische Tondichter von Palestrina bis auf die
Gegenwart
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