A Comparison of Sixteenth Century Polyphonic Devices Used by Pierluigi da Palestrina and William Byrd

This thesis is a study of the usage of sixteenth-century polyphonic devices as employed by the English composer William Byrd and the Italian composer Pierluigi Palestrina. Both men represented a culmination of sixteenth-century contrapuntal composition in their respective school and period, Byrd of the Renaissance Tudor period, and Palestrina of the Roman school and Renaissance period. Palestrina's work became a pattern for sacred Roman music during the late Renaissance because of its consistency, its origin in the modes, and its compositional style. As it became a popular standard for Latin liturgical music, Catholic composers of all nationalities began to use it as a guide for their writing. At this time in England, one such young composer named William Byrd began to emulate Palestrina. Up to this time few of the English composers had taken advantage of the progress made by the musicians of the Netherlands school. These two composers lived about the same time, and their vocal works are quite comparable, yet there was never any known contact between them. There seem to be some notable differences, but each of these is as consistent as the similarities. Both men were prolific writers of motets, which mirrored all of the Roman Catholic Church activities in an ecclesiastical year. Twelve motets by each composer, six from the early works and six from the late works of each, were chosen for contrast and comparison. In his book, Direct Approach to Counterpoint in 16th-Century Style, C.F. Soderlund set forth a conclusive and concise set of rules which he felt particularly characterized the music of Palestrina. A select group of rules or practices, some pertaining to the melodic line and others concerned with dissonances, was chosen from Soderlund's book to be used as a basis for comparison and contrast of the motets of Palestrina and Byrd