16th Century

Palestrina’s musical output, though vast, maintained a remarkably high standard in both sacred and secular works. His 105 masses embrace many different styles, and the number of voices used ranges from four to eight. The time-honoured technique of using a cantus firmus (preexistent melody used in one voice part) as the tenor is found in such masses as Ecce sacerdos magnus; L’Homme armé; Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la; Ave Maria; Tu es Petrus; and Veni Creator Spiritus. These titles refer to the source of the particular cantus firmus. Palestrina’s mastery of contrapuntal ingenuity may be appreciated to the fullest extent in some of his canonic masses (in which one or more voice parts are derived from another voice part). His ability to ornament and decorate a solemn plainchant, making it an integral part of the texture and sometimes almost indistinguishable from the other, freely composed parts, is evident from some of his masses based on hymn melodies.