The Prince of Music: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Stile Antico marks its 20^th season by honoring the quincentenary of the undisputed master of the style which gives the group its name: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. In an era when even the most celebrated composer could be forgotten in a single generation, Palestrina was an emphatic exception as his legend as “the prince and father of music” only grew after his death. Palestrina’s stellar career was inextricably linked with the Papacy and the great churches of Rome for which he composed. One of the world’s most vibrant and expressive vocal ensembles, the intensely collaborative singers of Stile Antico explore the music Palestrina himself would have sung at the Sistine Chapel, the changes in his style demanded by the Counter-Reformation, his tragic personal life, and his influence on his successors. The repertoire is sumptuous, including several of Palestrina’s most beloved and timeless motets, gems by other leading composers active in Rome, and a new work by leading British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad, written especially for Stile Antico and this program.