The Musician Giovanni Pierluigi, who was born in 1525 (died 1594), at Palestrina (hence
"Da Palestrina") in the Papal States, belongs among the most influential composers of all times.
His life work brought the vocal polyphonic style to full development. The leading characteristic
of his art is his natural genius for pure harmonic style, comparable to even Mozart in that effect.
Jean-Philippe Rameau was born in Dijon, France in 1683 and died in 1764. He was one
of the greatest figures in French musical history, a theorist of European stature and France's
leading 18th century composer. He made important contributions to the cantata, the motet,
keyboard music, and many of his dramatic compositions stand alongside those of Lully and
Gluck as the pinnacles of pre-revolutionary French opera.
The pieces chosen to compare and contrast are the Pope Marcellus Mass by Palestrina,
and the opera, Castor and Pollux by Rameau, more importantly, the pure vocal style of......
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