What composer responded to the reforms of the Council of Trent in an exemplary fashion?

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerThe composer who is most famously associated with the Council of Trent is Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, there is an article about him in the Catholic Encyclopedia, see the link below:

An excerpt from the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Palestrina:

The greatest composer of liturgical music of all time, born at Palestrina (ancient Praeneste) in 1514 or 1515, according to Baini, Riemann, and others, according to Haberl, in 1526; died at Rome, 2 February, 1594. His early history is practically unknown. Giuseppe Ottavia Pittoni (1657-1743), in "notizie dei maestri di cappella si di Rome che ultramontani, 1600-1700", a manuscript in the Vatican, relates that young Pierluigi sang in the streets of Rome while offering for sale the products of his parents farm and that he was heard on such an occasion by the choirmaster of Santa Maria Maggiore, who, impressed by the boy's beautiful voice and pronounced musical talent, educated him musically. As to the identity of the choirmaster, tradition gives no clue. Some hold that Palestrina was taught by Jacques Arcadelt (1514-60), choirmaster and composer in Rome from 1539 to 1549. The opinion, so long held, that Claude Goudimel (1505-72) was his principal teacher has now been definitively abandoned. As far as is known, he began his active musical life as organist and choirmaster in his native city in 1544; his reputation increasing, in 1551 he was called to Rome, entrusted with the direction and musical formation of the choirboys at St. Peter's, and within the same year was advanced to the post of choirmaster. In 1554, he dedicated to Julius III (1549-55) his first compositions, a volume of masses for four voices, and was rewarded with the appointment as a member of the papal chapel in contravention of the rules governing that body. The pope had set aside the rule requiring those who held membership in the papal choir to be in Holy Orders, and also used his authority to exempt him from the usually severe entrance examination. These circumstances and the further fact that his voice was much inferior to those of the other singers, aroused the opposition, and antagonism of his fellow-members. The papal singers did not appreciate the object of the pope, which was to secure for the gifted young man the necessary leisure to compose.

Answer 2

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is often cited as a composer who responded to the reforms of the Council of Trent by composing sacred music that embodied the desired principles of clarity, reverence, and textual clarity. His compositions are considered exemplary in their balance of polyphony and clarity of text setting, which aligned well with the Council's objectives for liturgical music.

Answer 3

palestrina