In the towne of Palestrina, located southeast of Rome, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was borne. During the year of 1537, Palestrina took instruction in the field of singing at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. After seven years, at the cathedral in Palestrina, he became the organist and choir director. Another seven years have passed since his appointment, after which, he decides to leave his post for another--that of choirmaster at the Julian Chapel at Saint Peter's, Rome. All of his subsequent posts were in Rome. He was given posts at Saint John Lateran (1555-1560), at Santa Maria Maggiore (1561-1566), and as master of music at a seminary for Jesuits (1565-1571). At the villa of Ippolito II, Cardinal d'Este, in Tivoli, Palestrina was given the secular post of music director. He held this post for a period of four years, beginning in 1567 and ending in 1571. After this venture, he returned to the Julian Chapel. There, he remained from 1571 to his death, in 1594.
 

Vocal Music
 

MASSES: One hundred and five masses, including Ecce sacerdos magnus (published 1554), De Beata Virgine (1567), Papae Marcelli (1567), L'Homme armé (1570), Lauda Sion (1582), O magnum mysterium (1582), Aeterna Christi munera (1590), Jam Christus astra ascenderat (1590), Dum complerentur (1599), Tu es Petrus (1601), Veni Creator Spiritus (1888).
 

MOTETS: More than two hundred and fifty, for four, five, six, seven, eight, and twelve voices, including a set of twenty-nine motets based on the Song of Solomon (1584); Assumpta est Maria (1572); three settings of Alma Redemptoris Mater; three settings of Lauda Sion.
 

MADRIGALS: Spiritual madrigals for three, four, and five voices; secular madrigals for various voices.
 

OTHER VOCAL

MUSIC: Including sixty-eight Offertories, thirteen complete sets, Lamentations, twelve Litanies, twenty Psalms, thirty-five Magnificats (mainly in four sets of eight, each set comprising a work on one of the eight "tonnes").