Palestrina - Prince of Music
Palestrina - Prince of Music is an Italian/German 2009 music film directed by Georg Brintrup. The subject is the life and music of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca.1525-1594), famous Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music. He is the best-known 16th-century composer of the Roman School. Filmed in March 2009 on locations mainly in and around L'Aquila and Rome, most of the ancient buildings and historical interiors in the city of L'Aquila were destroyed by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, only a few days after the end of shooting. Palestrina’s music in the film is directed by Flavio Colusso and the Roman Ensemble Seicentonovecento. The film was also titled The Liberation of Music or Die Befreiung der Musik when released in Germany.
Leonardo Montagna
Montagna was born in Verona, Republic of Venice, between 22 November 1425 and 21 November 1426 as one of the four sons of Agostino and Imperatrice Faella. He was the godson of the Venetian senator Bernardo Giustiniani and was named after his godfather's father, also a senator and poet. Montagna moved to Venice in 1451 or 1452 and then to Rome in 1453. In 1453 or 1454, Montagna married the fourteen-year-old Bartolomea Zampolina, with whom he had twelve children, of which ten survived him. Although he became an apostolic scribe under Pope Calixtus III, his assignments were not of great importance. He left Rome in 1457 and began wandering from Rieti and Verona to Dalmatia, Piceno, Viterbo, Perugia and Treviso, before finally returning to his hometown.