This volume investigates the life and musical output of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina within the context of the late Renaissance and the Counter-Reformation. Jerome Roche, a specialist in Italian music, utilizes historical documents and musical analysis to examine how Palestrina’s polyphonic style became the standard for liturgical music. The text argues that Palestrina’s technical mastery of counterpoint was not merely an aesthetic choice but a response to the shifting demands of the Roman Catholic Church.

Experts recognize this work as a concise and reliable introduction to Palestrina’s significance in Western music history. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which serves as a standard reference for students and scholars of Renaissance musicology.