Palestrina!

[Roehre]

Does anybody know whether Beethoven knew Palestrina? Didn't he study the old masters when composing the Missa solemnis?
Gerd

The simple answer to this question is: Yes.
The collection of Archduke Rudolph was available to Beethoven for research. In this collection (now in the archives of the Musikfreunde in Vienna) music by Palestrina and the franco-burgundian composers was present, not only because Rudolph collected them, but as large parts of the Imperial Habsburg music collection (from Charles V onwards) became part of it too.