JustSheetMusic
Portrait of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Composer

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Italian Renaissance composer (c. 1525–1594)

1525–1594

266 works in the index

Born
1525
Died
1594
Birthplace
Palestrina
Citizenship / historical state
Papal States
Period (estimated from birth year)
Renaissance

Biography

The precise birth date of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is unknown, but the year was either 1525 or 1526.

His name and reputation are bound up with that of the Council of Trent, the great series of gatherings of the archbishops and bishops of the Catholic Church that began in 1545 and continued until 1563, and that defined the Counter-Reformation.

One question that this Council faced involved the use of polyphonic music in the context of the mass. There is a legend that Palestrina’s music saved polyphony for the mass, and perhaps even for southern Europe. The legend exaggerates, as legends do.

But what it exaggerates is a truth: some Catholic prelates saw polyphony as a threat, as tainted by the Protestant schism, and Palestrina worked against that backdrop of suspicion.

He died in 1594. Attached to his coffin was a plate with the words: Libera me Domine (Deliver me, oh Lord).

In this catalogue

Common listed instruments
Choir, A Cappella, Voice, Recorder, Viola
Genres represented
Classical
Works with composition dates
7 of 266

These details describe the indexed sheet music, including arrangements.

Catalogue

Works page 3 of 6

Years are composition dates where known. Instruments describe editions in our catalogue and may include arrangements. A dash means the detail is not recorded.

Works and available sheet music details
WorkYear composedCatalogue / opusKey in titleListed instrumentsGenreEditions
Quando dal terzo cielo — —— —Classical 2
Sanctus - No. 2 from Missa "de Feria" — —— —Classical 1
Credo - No. 3 from Missa "L'homme arme" — —— —Classical 1
Gaude Barbara / Gaude, quia meruisti — —— —Classical 1
Missa Papae Marcelli, Credo — —— —Classical 1
Agnus Dei 1 - No. 6 from Missa Brevis — —— —Classical 1
Missa Tertia: O Magnum Mysterium, No. 9: Agnus Dei 2 — —— —Classical 1
Spiritus Sanctus - Score and Parts — —— —Classical 2
Three Sacred Palestrina Pieces - Score and Parts — —— —Classical 2
I Vaghi Fiori - Score and Parts — —— —Classical 2
Sicut cervus / Sitivit anima mea — —— —Classical 1
O magnum mysterium / Quem vidistis pastores — —— —Classical 1
Credo - No. 3 from Missa Brevis — —— —Classical 1
Gloria - No. 2 from Missa Brevis — —— —Classical 1
Dies Sanctus - Score and Parts — —— —Classical 2
Ad Te levavi oculos meos / Miserere nostri, Domine; from "Motectorum liber secundus" — —— —Classical 1
Agnus Dei 2 - No. 7 from Missa Brevis — —— —Classical 1
Agnus Dei 1 - No. 6 from Missa "L'homme arme" — —— —Classical 1
Gloria in Excelsis from Missa Papae Marcelli — —— —Classical 1
Sanctus - No. 4 from Missa Brevis — —— —Classical 1
Gloria - No. 2 from Missa "L'homme arme" — —— —Classical 1
Missa Tertia: O Magnum Mysterium, No. 4: Credo — —— —Classical 1
Stabat Mater Dolorosa - Score — —— —Classical 1
Ricerare in g — —— OrganClassical 1
In Diebus Illis — —— ChoirClassical 1
Dum Complerentur — —— ChoirClassical 1
Bonus Est Dominus — —— Cello, violin, Voice, Recorder, ViolaClassical 1
La Ver l'Aurora — —— Voice, A CappellaClassical 2
Sicut Cervus - Horn in F — —— —Classical 1
Spiritus Sanctus - Choir II Part 3, Horn in F — —— —Classical 1
Sicut Cervus - Trombone 2 — —— —Classical 1
Christus factus est - Trombone 4 — —— —Classical 1
Spiritus Sanctus - Choir I Part 4, Trombone — —— —Classical 1
Spiritus Sanctus - Choir II Part 4, Horn in F — —— —Classical 1
Dies Sanctus - Horn in F — —— —Classical 1
Three Sacred Palestrina Pieces - Tuba 2 — —— —Classical 1
I Vaghi Fiori - Trumpet 2 in B-flat — —— —Classical 1
Sicut Cervus - Score — —— —Classical 1
Sicut Cervus - Score and Parts — —— —Classical 1
Missa Brevis - Score — —— —Classical 1
O Domine Jesu Christe - Score — —— —Classical 1
Spiritus Sanctus - Choir I Part 5, Bass Trombone — —— —Classical 1
Spiritus Sanctus - Choir II Part 5, Horn in F — —— —Classical 1
Dies Sanctus - Trombone — —— —Classical 1
I Vaghi Fiori - Horn in F — —— —Classical 1
Sicut Cervus - Trumpet 1 — —— —Classical 1
Missa Brevis - Tenor — —— —Classical 1
O Domine Jesu Christe - Trombone 1 — —— —Classical 1

Biographical record: Wikidata, matched on name and checked against dates held in the catalogue. The period label is an estimate from birth year. Authority record: VIAF 92280854. Portrait: http://xoomer.virgilio.it/senesino/Dei/Palestrina.jpg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.