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Hannah French is joined by members of Stile Antico to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

Born in the hill town of Palestrina near Rome, Giovanni Pierluigi is considered one of the finest composers of music for the church. His surviving output is prolific, consisting of over 100 settings of the Mass in Latin, and more than 250 motets.

The early music group Stile Antico have spent the last couple of years recording many of Palestrina's works ahead of the quincentenary, and three members of the ensemble chat with Hannah about the composer's life, including connections with the famous Papal Chapel at St Peter鈥檚 Rome and the church Santa Maria Maggiore.

They introduce their recording of Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli is the setting of the mass which is reputed to have saved church music from being banned by the Catholic Church.