Palestrina’s Vestiva i colli as a model for the parody process in Gabriello Puliti’s early works

Abstract

A wide range of compositional styles used by Gabriello Puliti (c. 1580–1644) in his earliest printed collections from the turn of the century undoubtedly reflect his basic musical training. His application of a variety of styles to a single musical genre – motet or vesper psalms – can also possibly be seen as practice in the art of composition. Among the principles employed by Puliti, parody is especially interesting. In his motet En dilectus meus, included in the collection Sacrae modulationes (1600), Puliti interpolated a theme from Palestrina’s madrigal Vestiva i colli (1566). Puliti’s own completely homophonic opening is followed by a literal quotation of the first part of Palestrina’s madrigal transposed a fifth downward with some slight deviations from the original in rhythm required to fit the music to different words.