A Study On The Polyphonic Techniques Of Palestrina

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina,as the representative composer of the Renaissance and meanwhile the milestone person in the development of western music as well,is regarded,together with Johann Sebastian Bach,as “classical” and his influence continues to these days over the long history of polyphonic music.But compared with J.S.Bach,the specialized research on Palestrina is still relatively scarce in China.This dissertation,selecting Missa O Regem coeli in Palestrina's Missarum liber primus and based on music theories of the Renaissance,analyzes the subject and structure of this work and makes further efforts,from the perspective of counterpoint based on Gradus ad Parnassum written by J.J.Fux,to conclude and summarize the writing skills of voice-leading,counterpoint and cadence.The conclusion of this dissertation demonstrates the relationship between the melodic morphology,counterpoint,cadence and the rhythmic mode which this work presents,and then reveals that the nature of Palestrina's music is the melody,and meanwhile the narure of melody is rhythm.