By 1540 he was ill, judging from his correspondence with Duke Albrecht, and he probably died in early 1543. Senfl was an eclectic composer, at home both in the worlds of sacred and secular music, and he modeled his style carefully on models provided by the Franco-Flemish composers of the previous generation, especially Josquin des Prez. In particular, he was a gifted melodist, and his lines are warmly lyrical; his music remained popular and influential in Germany through the 17th century. His sacred music includes masses, motets, vespers settings, and a Magnificat. Technically his music has many archaic features, such as the use of "cantus firmus" technique, which was more in vogue in the 15th century; he even occasionally employs isorhythm. However he also has a typically Germanic liking for singable melodic passages in parallel imperfect intervals (3rds and 6ths). Senfl also wrote numerous German lieder, most of them secular (the handful on sacred texts were written for Duke Albrecht of Prussia). They vary widely in character, from extremely simple settings of a "cantus firmus" to contrapuntal tours-de-force such as elaborate canons and quodlibets.