MONTE, PHILIPPE DE

born 1521, Mechelen, Neth. died July 4, 1603, Prague one of the most active composers of the Netherlandish, or Flemish, school that dominated Renaissance music; he is known for his sacred music and for his madrigals. After an early period spent in Naples, he visited England in 155455 with the choir of Philip II of Spain and there befriended the 13-year-old William Byrd. He returned to Italy and in 1568 became court musical director to the Habsburg emperors. A prolific composer with a fluent but non-experimental technique, he excelled in subtle contrasts of register and voice-grouping. His 38 masses and 319 motets stand comparison with the works of Palestrina. He was also one of the last Netherlandish masters of the Italian madrigal, publishing more than 1,200 in 42 books.