- While Europe struggled to return to a semblance of Civiliation
- While the Muslims robbed,raped and murdered across Africa
- While the Africans and Asians remained mired in tribal Savagery
The greatest Composer or Sacred Music made his mark:
Giovani de la Palestrina’s motets, of which more than 250 are extant, display almost as much variety of form and type as do his masses. Most of them are in some clearly defined form, occasionally reflecting the shape of the liturgical text, though comparatively few are based on plainsong. Many of them paraphrase the chant, however, with an artistry that is every bit as successful as that of the masses. On the same level as the canonic masses are such motets as Cum ortus fuerit and Accepit Jesus calicem, the latter apparently a favourite of the composer’s—an assumption justified because he is depicted holding a copy of it in a portrait now in the Vatican.
His 29 motets based on texts from the Song of Solomon afford numerous examples of “madrigalisms”: the use of suggestive musical phrases evoking picturesque features, apparent either to the ear or to the eye, sometimes to both. In the offertories, Palestrina completely abandons the old cantus firmus technique and writes music in free style, whereas in the hymns he paraphrases the traditional melody, usually in the highest voice. In the Lamentations of Jeremiah he brings effective contrast to bear on the sections with Hebrew and Latin text, the former being melismatic (floridly vocalized) in style and the latter simpler and more solemn. His Magnificats are mainly in four sets of eight, each set comprising aMagnificat on one of the eight “tones”: alternatim structure is used here as in the Mantua masses.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/439795/Giovanni-Pierluigi-da-Palestrina/5470/Music
The Organum of the Middle Ages led to the Multi-Part Motet which was followed by the development of the Polyphonic Style which would reach its full glory in the marvelous works of J.S. Bach.
Few realize that this Music was funded by the Catholic Church.
Along with the salvation of Classical Literature, the world owes the Development of Western Music to the Holy Catholic Church.
wikipedia.com
