Palestrina & Stile Antico

Celebrating Palestrina at 500 with Stile Antico: ‘The great Italian composer who saved church music from cancel culture’

To mark Palestrina’s half-millennium, Edward Breen chats with members of Stile Antico, an ensemble championing his works which itself is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Palestrina was a carpet seller. The realisation hits me as I flip wearily through some herringbone swatches in a retail park off London’s Old Kent Road. What a cruel twist of fate for a composer variously known as the ‘prince of music’ and the ‘saviour of church music’ to have fallen on hard times. What a waste to think of the fine Italian Renaissance polyphonist chasing invoices in the fur and textile industry and fitting composition around it. I mentioned this to a soprano friend the other day, ‘Everyone needs a side hustle,’ she responded, wistfully.

For the full text of this feature please visit Gramophone.co.uk (February 2025)