Handl, Jacob (1550–1591)

Slovene composer. He was a prolific composer of church music, and wrote 16 Masses, motets, a Te Deum, and a cycle of music for the liturgical year. He also wrote German songs and other secular works, many of which show the influence of Franco-Flemish composers. Contemporary critics complained about the complexity of his music – his four-volume Opus Musicum (1586–91) included two pieces scored for 24 voices.

Handl was born in Ribniča near Ljubljana, and went to Austria in the mid-1560s. He was a singer in the Chapel of Emperor Maximilian II in Vienna 1574–75. He then travelled through Austria, Bohemia, Silesia, and Moravia, and was choirmaster to the Bishop of Olomouc 1579–85. By mid-1586 he was cantor at the Church of St Jan na Brzehu in Prague, where he remained until his death.