Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina
Featured artists:
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Hilliard Ensemble, Chanticleer, Jean Rondeau
Palestrina, the central musical figure of the Cinquecento, spent almost his complete musical career in Rome, notably as master of the chapel choir in Santa Maria Maggiore and Saint Peter's Basilica, under the pontificate of no fewer than ten popes.
Palestrina's musical language can be considered as the crowning achievement of Renaissance polyphony, of which he was the last major representative, before a new generation of composers brought music into the Baroque era. This 100-track collection highlights major works of Palestrina, mostly sacred with some profane madrigals and keyboard ricercari, by such artists as the Choir of King's College, the Hilliard Ensemble, Chanticleer and Jean Rondeau.