Page "Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina" Paragraph 4

From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was organist of the principal church ( St. Agapito ) of his native city, and in 1551 he became maestro di cappella at the Cappella Giulia, the papal choir at St Peter's.

His first published compositions, a book of Masses, had made so favorable an impression with Pope Julius III ( previously the Bishop of Palestrina ) that he appointed Palestrina musical director of the Julian Chapel.

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 the Low Countries, France, Portugal, or Spain.

In fact the book was modeled on one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an exact copy of the one from the book by the Spanish composer.