Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina ( 1525 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. He had a lasting influence on the development of church music, and his work is considered as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony.
Stabat Mater (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina)
Palestrina's Stabat Mater appears to have been written for Pope Gregory XIV, who was Pope from 1590 until his death in 1591. Therefore, the work may have been composed during this time– a period which was within the final years of Palestrina's life. Since then, the work was initially guarded closely by the choir for which was written. The first part was performed annually on Palm Sunday at a slower tempo.