Thomas Tallis More images

Composer
Thomas Tallis was an English composer who occupies a primary place in
anthologies of English choral music, and is considered one of England's
greatest composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English
musicianship. Wikipedia
Born: Kent, United Kingdom
Died: November 23, 1585, Greenwich, United Kingdom
Books: Glory to Thee My God This Night, more
Record labels: Hyperion Records, Linn Records, EMI Classics

Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) - A short biography

Despite his stature as one of the great composers of English sacred music, little is known about
the personality of English composer Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505 - 1585). The last two lines of his
epitaph - "As he did live, so also did he die, in mild and quiet sort (O happy man!); To God full oft
for mercy did he cry, wherefore he lives, let death do what it can." - allude to a quiet, pious man,
but little else.
Tallis' music, however, suggests much more. The composer lived in an England whose political
and religious landscape was much more volatile than that of its 21st century counterpart. As
monarchs changed - and Thomas Tallis saw four of them - so did the national faith. The
pendulum swung from Catholic to Protestant to Catholic, and back to Protestant again. Both
religions claimed numerous martyrs in defence of the "One True Faith;" kings and queens
demanded different loyalties. And they also demanded liturgical music to fit the prevailing order
of the day. Thus at least two conclusions can be drawn, reliably, about Tallis' personality from his
work: first and most obvious, his creativity, and second, his adaptability. His output, for the most
part, did not display the floridity of composers like Cornysh; nor did he compose much in the
way of madrigals or other secular music; his music demonstrated more restraint than the
exuberance of his pupil Byrd. Much of Tallis' work possesses a moody, reflective quality (for
example, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Suscipe quaeso, Miserere), but occasionally he could
demonstrate supreme technical skill. The best, and most well-known, example may be the 40part Spem in alium, with its amazing tapestry of voices, but one can also point to pieces such as
the giant six-voice antiphon Gaude gloriosa (probably written to honour Queen Mary Tudor) and
some of Tallis' intricate keyboard pieces, most notably the two Felix namque settings, displaying
a spirit of experimentation wildly at odds with the more reserved nature of much of his music.
As stated before, little is known about Thomas Tallis himself. His date of birth is murky, and at
best music history scholars can narrow it down to "about 1505." Tallis' musical education as a
youth is not known either, though he was probably a choirboy somewhere (it has been
suggested he was probably one of the "children of the Chapel Royal," but there is nothing to
confirm this), as that was how many composers in his day learned their music.
The first definite date marking the start of Tallis' musical career is 1532, when he was appointed
organist of Benedictine Priory in Dover. The year 1537 found him at his second job, organist at
St Mary-le-Hill in Billingsgate, London, and then on to Waltham Abbey in London until its
dissolution in 1540 under Henry VIII. The unemployed Tallis then set out to find work, which he
did in 1541 at Canterbury Cathedral as a lay clerk. Finally, he settled into the King's service,
appointed as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543. He sang with the Chapel Royal, played
the organ, helped in running the choir, and continued to compose. In 1575, with William Byrd,
Tallis secured a monopoly on printing music and music paper in England. Tallis remained with
the Chapel Royal until his death in 1585, while finding time to marry his wife Joan and taking on
the young Byrd as a pupil (both probably around the same time, in 1552).
While Tallis was undoubtedly composing before he entered the Chapel Royal - Missa salve
intemerata, for example, was written by the young composer in the late 1520s or early 1530s it was this move into the King's service which marked the real beginning of a career which would
establish him as England's main composer of church music.

Thomas Tallis would prove himself adept in writing for both the Catholic and Protestant liturgies.
Born a Catholic, he managed to survive - apparently without being persecuted - as a member of
the "Old Faith," while becoming the chief composer for the new Church of England. For the
Catholic Church he set Latin texts to music in the form of vocal polyphony; for the new Anglican
Church he provided clear chordal settings for English texts, many of which are still used by
church choirs today (Tallis' Canon is perhaps the best-known example).
Though not as "in your face" about retaining his Catholic faith as Byrd was (Byrd was fined on
several occasions for being a recusant), Tallis may have very well intended some of his pieces to
make a point about the persecution of Catholics in a newly Protestant England. The haunting,
expressive quality of his Lamentations of Jeremiah suggests desolation, penitence; the work,
says Paul Doe, was more than likely not conceived as church music at all, "but rather for private
recreational singing by loyal Catholics." For Tallis, the words "Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere
ad Dominum Deum tuum" - Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God - may have had
special significance for Tallis, a Catholic in a Protestant country.
One of Tallis' most famous compositions, the 40-voice Spem in alium, also alludes to a strong
allegiance to Roman Catholicism, with its mix of voices both polyphonic and chordal. Spem is
also a work with an interesting history in its own right. It was ostensibly the result of a challenge
by one of the composer's supporters, the Catholic Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk
(executed not long after as the result of trumped-up charges accusing Norfolk of colluding with
Mary Queen of Scots). The work challenged was Striggio's 40-part Ecce beatum lautam; the
challenge was for an Englishman to produce a work that would excel this piece produced by an
Italian. Tallis answered the challenge, perhaps to defend England's creative honour; or to prove
himself as an old man still capable of creating great work; or to produce - like many composers a masterwork which history would remember him by. At any rate, Tallis set to work answering
Howard's challenge. And answer it he did: Apparently after its first performance at the palace of
Nonsuch (or the Long Hall), owned by Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, Spem in alium moved
Thomas Howard enough to remove a heavy gold chain from around his neck, placing it around
Tallis' own, thanking the older Thomas for the glorious piece he had crafted.
Whether Tallis was a subversive Catholic, following one faith professionally but the other one in
private, or merely demonstrating a love of the old liturgy he knew as a child, one may never
know for certain, but it is clear that Thomas Tallis' music stands up not just for its creative merit,
but as a reflection of one man's response to the tumultuous - and often treacherous - politics of
Tudor England.

Josquin des Prez

Composer
Josquin des Prez, often referred to simply as Josquin, was a FrancoFlemish composer of the Renaissance. Wikipedia
Born: County of Hainaut, Belgium
Died: August 27, 1521, Cond-sur-l'Escaut, France
Parents: Gossart des Prez
Record labels: Harmonia Mundi, Nave, more

The Life of Josquin

Little is known about Josquin's birth and early years, which may have taken place in either
Northern France or Southern Belgium. Possible birth dates range from 1440 to 1455. We don't
even know where he received his first musical training, or if he received any formal training at
all. According to music history, Josquin composed a motet in honor of Johannes Ockeghem , a
Franco-Flemish composer, but we don't know if they had a pupil-teacher relationship.

What we do know is that Josquin, like many composers of his day, made his way to Italy where
he enjoyed a flourishing career. In the 1470's we find him in Milan, a musician in the court of
Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. During the late 1400s, he belonged to the papal choir in Rome; in the
early 1500s, Duke Ercole I of Ferrara hired him to compose and sing in his chapel, the highpoint
of his professional life. After an outbreak of the Black Plague in 1503, Josquin left Rome; a year
later, King Louis XII of France asked him to head the collegiate Church of Notre Dame in Condsur-l'Escaut. As far as we know, Josquin remained at the church in Cond-sur-l'Escaut until his
death in 1521. Over 270 years later, the church in which he was buried, including his tomb, was
destroyed during the French Revolution
The Music of Josquin
Josquin's peers thought him the greatest composer of his day. His musical style can best be
described as a fusion of Franco-Flemish polyphony, a combination of many melodies heard
simultaneously. Josquin composed masses, motets and chansons. Motets are sacred polyphonic
songs. Chansons are secular polyphonic songs, often with French texts. Josquin was a master of
each of these genres.
Josquin was particularly adept at the canon, or a composition of overlapping vocals. If you have
ever sung Row, Row, Row Your Boat as a round, you have sung a canon. A canon can utilize one
voice or as many as four or five voices, and as the strictest form of polyphony, it requires great
skill on the part of the composer. The motet,Ave Maria, gratia plena, is an excellent example of
canonic writing with the four voices overlapping each other in perfect imitation, one after the
other.
In some of his masses, Josquin employed an older style known as the cantus firmus, an
existing melody composers used as a basis for a composition. For instance, Missa Fortuna
desperata is a cantus firmus mass that uses the polyphonic song Fortuna desperata as its
musical foundation. Josquin also composed parody or paraphrase masses, which became
increasingly popular during his life and eventually replaced the cantus firmus style. A parody or
paraphrase mass transforms an existing melody by breaking it into sections and scattering it
throughout the composition, mostly by using different voices. For example, Missa Pange
lingua is a paraphrase mass that Josquin composed in approximately 1515. It was also his last
mass.

William Byrd
Composer
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He
wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time,
including various types of sacred and secular polyphony,
keyboard, and consort music.Wikipedia
Born: 1543, Lincoln, United Kingdom
Died: July 4, 1623, Stondon Massey, United Kingdom
Film music credits: The Touch
Parents: Thomas Byrd, Margery Byrd
Record labels: Harmonia Mundi, Gimell, ASV
Digital, CORO,Gaudeamus
A renowned Shakespearean composer, William Byrd was a talented musician of his time and
cohort. He added some great works to his credit and primarily dominated the musical scene of
Renaissance period in Old England. He was known as a versatile composer with a strong
foundation in almost all genres and was, by far, the greatest English composer known at the
time. He outshone most of the other composers he worked with such as Lassus and Giovanni
and established himself as a dignified composer in the courts of royalty. Primarily influenced by
the romanticism of Renaissance, Byrd came with small and large scale songs, masses, organ,
choral and songs backed by religious tones. In a time dominated by largely secular music, Byrd
broke all boundaries and leapt into a world of novelty in terms of music. His works then went on
to establish and influence other composers in and around England. He believed in combining
sacredness with his music and brought out multifarious vocal pieces. He also contributed

immensely to the development of Virtuoso styles and early keyboard music, making him a
genius of his time. His celebrated works are undoubtedly Passing measures Pavan and Galliard,
Songs of Sundrie Natures and My Ladye Nevells Book.
Childhood And Early Life
Little is known of William Byrds childhood. He was the son of a little-documented musician
called Thomas Byrd and had four sisters and two brothers. A child prodigy, he developed an
adoration and passion for music from a very young age. Nothing much is known about Byrd till
he started taking lessons as a teenager, under Thomas Tallis who was then a leading music
composer at the Royal Chapel. There have been documents that suggest that Byrd also learned
under leading, royal vocalists such as William Mundy and John Sheppard, who induced a thirst
for vocal music. There are no surviving records that confirm his childhood training but there
have been speculations that suggest that he later went on to become a renowned choirboy at
the Royal Chapel.
Musical Beginnings
William Byrd was believed to have contributed to a psalm In Exitu Israel, by composing a few
bits and pieces of his own, between the years 1553 to 1558 and right at the end of the reign of
Mary Tudor. Byrd may have also had a few more compositions to his credit during his teenage
years, but none have been documented. After a few more formative years of musical service at
the Royal Chapel, he went on to become a master of choristers and an organist aged twenty, at
the Lincoln Cathedral, in the year 1563. Here, he wrote his works in English and also contributed
to religious music services. He provided some of the finest music to young English churches at
the time, and was slowly starting to become a prevalent figure. Anthems, songs and hymns
were composed fervently during this period and he was finally appointed the Gentleman of the
Royal Chapel in the year 1570.
Personal Life
Byrd married Julian Birley on 14 th September 1568 after a prolonged period of professional
instability and turmoil. Julian provided him the much needed relief and constancy in his personal
life. The marriage was a rewarding one and he went on to lead a long, comfortable life and
fathered seven children with Julian.
Career
Byrd was appointed as the Gentleman in the Royal Chapel and shared his post as organist with
his former tutor Thomas Tallis. This gave a solid foundation to Byrds strong ties with Tallis and
also provided him a definitive learning space. Queen Elizabeth, impressed with the overflowing
talent and the magic that came through their musical collaboration, offered the duo a patent to
get their music published in the year 1575. It was during this period that Byrd contributed to the
sources that were integral in the development of the new genus, the English Anthem, and
introduced organ inclusions as accompaniments to the new genre. One of his most celebrated
works called Great Service was created in this arrangement. Despite his successes with his
English compositions, he chose to publish his Latin works which he was more confident of. This
began in the early period of 1575 with a series known as the Cantiones Sacrae which literally
translates to Sacred songs. Though the response was tepid, he continued to publish more
Sacred Songs in the years between 1589 and 1591. These would later go on to be recognized
as motets that would become significant English contributions to the world of music, depicting
the composers skill and uniformity of works.
Predominantly known as a Catholic composer, William Byrd went on to compose and write a
mass of choral and sacred works. Some of his most illustrious compositions was the three Latin
Masses that included a new variation known as the Kyrie, that was novel to English
composition. These compositions lacked the liturgical backdrops that were omnipresent in all his
other compositions and the compositions of other musical artists of the time. The Latin Masses
were very well received as they mirrored Byrds insightful mode. Towards the end of the 1590s,
Byrd composed multitudinous small-scale songs, sonnets, and Psalms. These included a variety
of songs with mixed genres from modern to secular and could be performed with a sole vocalist
or an entire group, though the norms suggested that these songs be performed solo. It was
during this period, when he was recognized as an unparalleled composer with a flair for
versatility.
In the early 1600s, he went on to produce his supreme opuses in sacred and choral genres,
in the form of two volumes known as Gradualia. These liturgical pieces of music went on to

become a superlative tribute in the world of Western music. William Byrd was a staunch Catholic
and it reflected and dominated most parts of his music. However, this did not stop him from
composing music for the Anglican Church with which he had started off in his career.
Towards the end of his life, Byrd had composed a whopping 470 musical works, and went on
to create a few more before his death in the year 1623. He also went on to composing motets
with Biblical settings and some of his famous works in this category were This Day Christ was
Born and Have Mercy upon me. Some of these were also passed on as church anthems set in
different verses during the time. Towards the end of the decade, Byrd also produced more
keyboard pieces to celebrate the marriage of Princess Elizabeth along with his famous English
compositions known as Teares or Lamentacions of a Sorrowful Soule.
Death And Legacy
Byrd was a reputed musician among all other English musicians of his time. He succeeded in
bringing out secular, vocal music, liturgical items and Latin compositions showing his versatility
in different genres of music. Despite the many downfalls in his career, his 470 musical
compositions spoke for themselves. With his strong religious adherence and a cultivated, refined
style of music, Byrd went on to inspire a long line of musicians right from his time to the
contemporary composers of today. Though a lot of his works and history were rarely
documented, some of his ardent followers got together to revive and relive the greatest of
William Byrds music of a lost time and period.
Byrd died on July 4th 1623, in his home in the Standon Massey. After his death, much of his works
were dispersed and lost, only to be found by modern musicians. He died wealthy despite the
many ups and downs of his musical career.
WILLIAM BYRD TIMELINE
1540:
William Byrd was born in Lincoln, England.
1550:
Studied under Thomas Tallis.
1553:
He was a choir boy in Londons Royal Chapel till the year 1568, where he was also offered a post
as an organist.
1568:
Married Julian Birley.
1572:
Made the Gentleman of the Royal Chapel by Queen Elizabeth.
1575:
Published his first Latin works called Sacred Songs.
1593:
Left London and settled in Standon Massey, Essex.
1595:
Composed the renowned three masses.
1605:
Composed his renowned Gradualia, motets and songs largely influenced by Catholic
backgrounds.
1611:
Wrote his well-known Psalms, Songs and Sonnets.
1623:
Died at his Standon Massey home as a wealthy, established music composer.

Claudio Monteverdi
Composer
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was an Italian composer,
gambist, singer and Roman Catholic priest. Monteverdi's work,
often regarded as revolutionary, marked the change from the

Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque

period. Wikipedia
Born: May 9, 1567, Cremona, Italy
Died: November 29, 1643, Venice, Italy
Marriage location: Mantua, Italy
Spouse: Claudia Cattaneo (m. 15991607)
Movies: The Full Monteverdi

Claudio
Monteverdi (May
15,
1567
an Italian composer, violinist and singer.

(baptised)

November

29,

1643)

was

His work marks the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music. During his long life he
produced work that can be classified in both categories, and he was one of the most significant
revolutionaries that brought about the change in style. Monteverdi wrote the earliest
dramatically viable opera, Orfeo, and was fortunate enough to enjoy fame during his lifetime.
He was born in Cremona in northern Italy. In childhood he studied with Marc Antonio Ingegneri,
who was maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Cremona. Since there is no record of him
singing in the cathedral choir, the music lessons must have been private. Monteverdi produced
his first music for publicationsome motets and sacred madrigalsin only 1582 and 1583, so
he must have been something of a child prodigy. In 1587 he produced his first book of secular
madrigals, and shortly thereafter began to look for work outside of his native town.
In 1590 Monteverdi began working at the court in Mantua as a vocalist and viol player, and by
1602 he had become conductor there. Until his fortieth birthday he mainly worked on madrigals,
composing nine books of them in all. Book VIII, published in 1638, includes the socalled Madrigali dei guerrieri ed amorosi which many consider to be the perfection of the form.
As a whole, the first eight books of madrigals show the enormous development from the
Renaissance polyphonic music to the monodic style which is typical of Baroque music. The ninth
book of madrigals, published posthumously in 1651, contains lighter pieces, such
as canzonettas, probably composed throughout his lifetime and representing both styles.
From monody, with its emphasis on clear melodic lines, intelligible text and placid
accompanying music, it was a logical step to begin composing opera, especially for a
dramatically inclined composer who also loved grand effect. In 1607 he composed his first
opera, Orfeo. It was common at that time for composers to create works on demand for special
occasions, and this piece was meant to add some lustre to the annual carnival of Mantua.
Indeed it was a great success, fitting so well in the spirit of the times. Orfeo is marked by its
dramatic power and lively orchestration. Indeed, this piece is arguably the first example of a
composer assigning specific instruments to parts, and it is also one of the first large
compositions in which the exact instrumentation of the premiere has come down to us. The plot
is described in vivid musical pictures and the melodies are linear and clear. With this opera
Monteverdi had created an entirely new style of music, the dramma per musica (musical drama)
as it was called. Monteverdi's operas are usually labelled 'pre-baroque' or 'early-baroque'.
It is arguable that Monteverdi's greatest work remains the Vespro della Beata Vergine
1610 (The Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610). This is one of his few sacred works of any scale,
but it remains to this day one of the greatest examples of devotional music, matched only by
works such as Handel's Messiah and J. S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion. The scope of the work as a

whole is breathtaking - each part (there are 25 in total) is fully developed in both a musical and
dramatic sense - the instrumental textures are used to precise dramatic and emotional effect, in
a way that had not been seen in before.
In 1613 Monteverdi was appointed as conductor at San Marco in Venice, where he soon revived
the choir, which had withered under his predecessor. Here he also finished his sixth, seventh
and eighth books of madrigals. The eighth is the largest, containing works written over a 30year period, including the dramatic sceneTancredi e Clorinda (1624), in which the orchestra and
voices form two separate entities. They act as counterparts. Most likely Monteverdi was inspired
to try this arrangement because of the two opposite balconies in San Marco, which had inspired
much similar music from composers there, such as Gabrieli. What made this composition also
stand out is the first-time use of string tremolo (fast repetition of the same tone)
and pizzicato (plucking strings with fingers) for special effect in dramatic scenes.
During the last years of his life Monteverdi became ill, but it did not keep him from composing
his two last masterpieces, both operas: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria(1641), and the historic
opera l'Incoronazione di Poppea (1642). L'Incoronazione especially is considered a culminating
point of Monteverdi's work. It contains tragic as well as comic scenes, (a new development in
opera), more realistic portrayal of the characters, and warmer melodies than had previously
been heard. It requires a smaller orchestra, and has a less prominent role for the choir.
Monteverdi composed at least eighteen operas, of which only Orfeo, l'Incoronazione, Il ritorno,
and the famous aria 'Lamento' from his second opera l'Arianna have survived.
Monteverdi died in Venice.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Composer
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance
composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century
representative of the Roman School of musical
composition. Wikipedia
Born: February 3, 1525, Palestrina, Italy
Died: February 2, 1594, Rome, Italy
Film music credits: Lunacy
Parents: Santo Pierluigi, Palma Pierluigi
Record labels: De Agostini, Harmonia Mundi, Chandos
Records, more

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Composer)

Born: between February 3, 1525 and February 2, 1526 - probably Palestrina, near Rome, then
part of the Papal States, Italy
Died: February 2, 1594 - Rome, Italy
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was the most
famous 16th century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. Palestrina had
a vast influence on the development of Roman Catholic church music, and his work can be
seen as a summation of Renaissance polyphony.

Life
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was born in Palestrina, a town near Rome, then part of the Papal
States. He spent most of his career in Rome. Documents suggest he first visited the city in
1537, when he is listed as a chorister at Santa Maria Maggiore basilica. He studied with Robin
Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. It was rumored Palestrina studied under Claude Goudimel; the story
originated in the 19th century, but according to recent study, Goudimel was never in Rome.
From 1544 to 1551 Palestrina was organist of the principal church of his native city (St
Agapito), and in the last year became maestro di cappella at the Cappella Giulia, the papal
choir at St. Peter's Basilica. His first published compositions, a book of masses made so
favorable an impression with Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina), that he was
appointed musical director of the Julian Chapel. In addition, this was the first book of masses by
a native composer: in the Italian states of his day, most composers of sacred music were from
Netherlands, France, Portugal or Spain. In fact his book of masses was actually modeled on one
by Morales, 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 in Lateran, from 1555 to 1560, and St Maria
Maggiore, from 1561-1566). 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, two of 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. He died in Rome of pleurisy in 1594.
Music and Reputation
See: List of compositions by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Wikipedia)
Palestrina left hundreds of compositions, including 104 masses, 68 offertories, more than 300
motets, at least 72 hymns, 35 magnificats, 11 litanies, 4 or 5 sets of lamentations etc., at least
140 madrigals and 9 organ ricercari (however, recent scholarship has classed these ricercai as
of doubtful authorship; Palestrina probably wrote no purely instrumental music). There are two
comprehensive editions of Palestrina's works: one edited by Haberl and published in 33
volumes in 1862-1894, the other edited by R. Casimiri and others and published in 34 volumes.
His Missa sine nomine seems to have been particularly attractive to J.S. Bach, who studied
and performed it while he was writing his own masterpiece, the Mass in B Minor (BWV 232). His
compositions are typified as very clear, with voice parts well-balanced and beautifully
harmonized. Among the works counted as his masterpieces is the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope
Marcellus Mass), which according to legend was composed to persuade the Council of Trent
that a draconian ban on polyphonic treatment of text in sacred music was unnecessary.
However, more recent scholarship shows that this mass was composed before the cardinals
convened to discuss the ban (possibly as much as ten years before). It is probable, however,
that Palestrina was quite conscious of the needs of intelligible text in conformity with the
doctrine of the Counter-Reformation, and wrote his works towards this end from the 1560s until
the
end
of
his
life.
The "Palestrina Style" - the smooth style of 16 th century polyphony, derived and codified
by Johann Joseph Fux from a careful study of his works - is the style usually taught as
"Renaissance polyphony" in college counterpoint classes, although in a modified form, as J.J.
Fux made a number of stylistic errors which have been corrected by later authors (notably
Knud Jeppesen and Morris). As codified by J.J. Fux it follows the rules of what he defined as

"species counterpoint." Palestrina established and followed these strict guidelines:

The
flow
of
music
is
dynamic,
not
rigid
or
static.
Melody
should
contain
few
leaps
between
notes.
- If a leap occurs, it must be small and immediately countered by opposite stepwise motion.
- Dissonances are either passing note or off the beat. If it is on the beat, it is immediately
resolved.
No composer of the 16th century was more consistent in following his own rules, and staying
within the stylistic bounds he imposed on himself, than was Palestrina. Also, no composer of
the 16th century has had such an edifice of myth and legend built around him. Much of the
research on Palestrina was done in the 19 th century by Giuseppe Baini, who published a
monograph in 1828 which made Palestrina famous again, and reinforced the already existing
legend that he was the "Saviour of Church Music" during the reforms of the Council of Trent.
The nineteenth-century attitude of hero-worship is predominant in this monograph, however,
and this has remained with the composer to some degree to the present day; Hans Pfitzner's
opera Palestrina shows this attitude at its peak. Scholarship of the 20 th and 21st centuries tends
to retain the view that Palestrina was a strong and refined composer, representing a summit of
technical perfection, but emphasizes that there were other composers working at the same
time with equally individual voices and slightly different styles, even within the confines of
smooth
polyphony,
such
as Lassus and
Victoria.
Palestrina was immensely famous in his day, and his reputation, if anything, increased
following his death. Conservative music of the Roman School continued to be written in his
style (known as the "prima pratica" in the 17 th century), by such students of his as Giovanni
Maria Nanino, Ruggiero Giovanelli, Arcangelo Crivelli, Teofilo Gargari, Francesco Soriano and
Gregorio Allegri. It is also thought that Salvatore Sacco may have been a student of Palestrina.
Palestrina's music continues to be performed and recorded, and provides models for the study
of counterpoint.
J.S. Bach Connection
Among the compositions by other composers that J.S. Bach became involved with,
Palestrina's Missa sine nomineoccupies a special place, since J.S. Bach's reworking of it
exemplifies a process which was becoming widespread in Germany. For example, Johann
Gottlob Harrer, J.S. Bach's successor as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, had already furnished the
same mass with parts for two oboes, three violins, two violas, bass, and continuo (harpsichord
and organ). In his youthJ.G. Harrer had travelled to Italy at the expense of his protector, Count
Heinrich von Briihl, and had brought to Dresden a considerable number of sacred works by
Italian masters, Palestrina in particular; the Missa sine nomine was one of at least six Palestrina
masses
that J.G.
Harrer 'restyled'.
J.S. Bach's involvement with the work, which first appeared in the Missarum liber
quintus pubin Rome by Francesco Coattino in 1590, is datable to about 1742-1745. He
provided colla parte instrumentation for two cornetts, four trombones, organ, harpsichord, and
violone. Only the last three parts are autograph in the Berlin source, the others being in the
hand of the so-called Hauptkopist I. It is particularly significant that J.S. Bach provided
instrumental accompaniment only for the Kyrie and Gloria, the two sections constituting the
MISSA in the Lutheran liturgy of the time, and it is reasonable to assume that only these
sections were performed under J.S. Bach's direction. It is nevertheless logical to conclude that
the other sections of Palestrina's mass were copied with the precise intention of showing the
musicians active in the J.S. Bach circle the importance of the stile antico.