Josquin Des Préz was one of the most influential and widely
regarded composers in the history of Western music, so famous
that he is known merely by his first name. Josquin was
apparently born in the Duchy of Burgundy, in modern Belgium. He
spent a large portion of his middle years in various Italian
cities as a highly sought master of music, and then retired to
Conde (in Northeast France) late in his life. Josquin's extended
sojourns in Italy allowed him not only to spread the Northern
polyphonic style there, but to pick up some of the Southern
vitality noticeable in many of his secular works. However, his
extended works are always marked by a subtlety and serenity
characteristic of the Franco-Flemish school. Josquin's surviving
musical output is very large, comprising masses, motets, and
secular songs in both French and Italian. His style is marked by
the technique of pervasive imitation, in which different vocal
lines share material in a subtle interlocking manner. Most of
his compositions are for four voi