Transcript Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina

Palestrina
It may confuse you to learn that
Palestrina is not a person, but a
place. The composer was actually
named Giovanni Pierluigi.
Giovanni was born around 1525 in
the tiny village of Palestrina,
outside Rome, in the country of…
Italy
Rome
Gianetto (as he was then called) was a
happy, playful child who sang in the local
choir. At age 12, he went to Rome to a
choir school where he learned to compose.
At the age of 20, he got a job as an organist
back in his home town of Palestrina and he
married a girl named Lucrezia, whose father
had just died and left her some money.
Not long after Giovanni got married, the bishop of
Palestrina became the new Pope. The new Pope
needed a choir director for St. Peter’s choir in
Rome, and he knew Giovanni because they were
from the same little town, so he appointed him the
director.
It seems that church
composers of this time had
been using melodies of
“secular” songs in church
music. Also, the music was
loud and nobody could
understand the words. The
church leaders were
unhappy with this and they
wanted to abolish both
homophonic and
polyphonic music and go
back to the Gregorian
Chant of 1000 years earlier.
Giovanni
convinced the
church leaders
that polyphonic
music could be
very respectable.
His church music
wasn’t too loud
and the words
were easily
understood.
The Vatican in Rome – where the pope lives
All seemed to be going well for Giovanni.
He married a girl with lots of money, he
got a job as director of the Pope’s very
own choir, and he single-handedly
convinced church leaders not to go back
to Gregorian Chant.
Unfortunately, the tide was
about to turn for Giovanni.
The dreaded sheep flu killed
his wife and 2 of his 3 sons.
Needless to say, Giovanni was very upset at
losing his family. He considered giving up
composing music and becoming a priest.
He got as far as
shaving his head to
become a priest, but
then he decided
against it.
Instead, he changed his name to
his home town of…
Palestrina
Things started
looking up for
Palestrina. He met
and married a rich
widow named
Virginia Dormuli.
Virginia owned a fur
and leather business
and four houses
which she rented out
to tenants.
During the mornings,
Palestrina would
mind the fur store
and take care of any
tenant problems.
During the
afternoons, he
composed. Although
he was busy, he still
somehow managed
to compose about
100 masses and over
600 other pieces.
Palestrina died in 1594 in Rome, Italy.
He was buried in St. Stephen’s
cemetary, but his grave has been
misplaced over the years.
Composer: Palestrina
Song: Si ignoras te