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He was nicknamed Il Prenestino. He had a tremendous influence on the development of Roman Catholic church music , and his work can be seen as a summation of Renaissance polyphony, much the way J.S. Bach is for counterpoint in the Baroque era.
He is first known to have been in Rome in 1537Events January 6 Alessandro de Medici assassinated August 25 The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed. Pope Paul III publishes the encyclical Sublimis Deus, which declares, when he is listed as a choirboy there; he studied with Robin MallapertRobin Mallapert (fl. 1538 1553) was a French musician of the Renaissance, probably a composer, who spent most of his life in Rome. He is best known as the teacher of Palestrina. Nothing definite is known about the beginning or end of his life, but he was and Firmin Lebel . There was a persistent story that he studied under Claude GoudimelClaude Goudimel was a French composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He was born in Besancon around 1510, and was murdered August 27, 1572 in Lyon. He is known to have been in Paris in 1549, probably studying at the University of Paris, since he p, which originated in the 19th century, but recent scholarship has disproved this: Goudimel was never in Rome. In 1544-51 Palestrina was organist of the principal church of his native city (St. Agapito, Palestrina), and in the latter year became maestro di cappella at the Julian Chapel ( Cappella Giulia ) in Rome. With his first published compositions--a book of massesThis article discusses the Mass as a standard form of classical music composition. For the Mass and its meaning as a part of the Eucharistic liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, see Mass (liturgy). For mass as a concept in physics, see mass. The Mass as which he presented to Pope Julius IIIJulius III ne Gian Maria del Monte or Giovan Maria Giocci ( September 10, 1487 March 23, 1555) pope from February 7, 1550 to 1555, the last of the High Renaissance popes, was born at Rome, the son of a famous jurist. He succeeding his uncle as archbishop (previously the Bishop of Palestrina)--he made so favorable an impression that he was appointed musical director of the Julian Chapel. In addition, this was the first book of masses by a native Italian composer: most composers of sacred music in Italy at that time were from the Netherlands, France or Spain. In fact his book of masses was actually modeled on one by MoralesCristobal de Morales (c. 1500 October 7, 1553) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Victoria. Life He was born in Seville, and after an exceptional early education there,), and the woodcut in the front is an almost exact copy of the one from the book by the Spaniard.
Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome during the next decade (notably St. John Lateran, from 1555Events Russia breaks 60 year old truce with Sweden by attacking Finland May 23 Paul IV becomes Pope. Births Deaths February 8 Laurence Saunders martyred. March 23 Pope Julius III May 6 Pope Marcellus II May 25 Henry II of Navarre October 16 Nicholas Ridle to 1560Events February 27 The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. July 6 Treaty of Edinburgh between England, France, and St. Maria Maggiore, from 1561 to 1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel, and remained at St. Peter's for the rest of his life. The decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally; he lost his brother, both his sons, and his wife in three separate outbreaks of the plague ( 1572, 1575 and 1580 respectively). He seems to have considered becoming a priest at this time, but instead he married again, this time to a wealthy widow; this finally gave him financial independence (he was not well paid as choirmaster) and he was able to compose prolifically until his death.