Philippe de Monte

Trained as a choirboy at Saint Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen, De Monte worked in Naples and Rome, gaining European renown for his exquisite madrigals. In 1554, he traveled to England in the chapel choir of King Philip II of Spain upon Philip's marriage to Queen Mary Tudor, befriending William Byrd.

In 1568, Emperor Maximilian II appointed him Kapellmeister in Vienna, moving with the imperial court of Rudolf II to Prague. De Monte published over 1,200 secular madrigals and 40 masses, maintaining an illustrious musical correspondence with Byrd across religious divides.