In the history of music, the Roman School was a group of composers of predominantly church music in Rome in the 16th and 17th centuries, i.e. between the late Renaissance and the early Baroque.

 

The term also refers to the music they have composed. Many of the composers had a direct connection to the Vatican and the papal chapel, but worked in several churches; stylistically, they are often juxtaposed with the Venetian school of composers, a parallel movement that was much more progressive.

 

By far the most famous composer of the Roman school is Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose name has been associated with gentle, clear, polyphonic perfection for four hundred years.

 

However, there were other composers working in Rome as well, and they did so in a variety of styles and forms.