Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Palestrina or Rome, 1525, latest February 1, 1526 - Rome, February 2, 1594) was an Italian composer of Renaissance music.
http://www.wikipedia.com/images/uploads/palestrina-thumbnail.jpg
(Public domain image from Pratt's History of Music, 1907
He was nicknamed Il Prenestino. He has had a tremendous influence on the development of Roman Catholic church music.
He went to Rome at the age of
fourteen to sixteen and is supposed to have studied
under Claude Goudimel. In 1544-51 he was organist of the principal church of his native city,
and in the latter year became magister puerorum
at St. Peter's, Rome. By his first compositions--
three masses dedicated to Julius III.-- he made so
favorable an impression that he was appointed
musical director of the Julian chapel. He held
similar positions at various chapels and churches in
Rome until his death; and by his compositions,
which are very numerous-- masses, motets, hymns,
and others, of which only one-half have been published--
he produced a complete revolution in the
history of church music. As his masterpiece is
generally mentioned,
Missa Papae Marcelli.
Palestrina left hundreds of compositions, including 104 masses, 68 offertories, 250 motets, 45 hymns, psalms, 33 magnificats, lithanies, 4 or 5 sets of lamentations etc., at 140 madrigals and 9 organ ricercari. His compositions are typified as very clear, with voice parts well-balanced and beautifully harmonized.
Much study and research has been done on his music. Most notable include:
Jeppesen, Knud. The Style of Palestrina and the Dissonance. 2nd ed., London, 1946. (An exhaustive study of his contrapuntal technique.
_______. Counterpoint. New York, 1939.
Haigh, Andrew C. Modal Harmony in the Music of Palestrina. From Essays on Music: In Honor of Archibald Thompson Davison. Harvard, 1957. pp.111-120.