Monte, Philippe de (1521–1603)

Flemish composer. He was a prolific polyphonist; about 40 of his Masses, 300 motets, 45 chansons, and over 1,100 madrigals survive. Among his friends were the composers Roland de Lassus and William Byrd. Monte's secular music enjoyed widespread popularity, as the distribution of his publications and manuscripts testifies.

Monte was born in Malines, and went to Italy while still young. He served the Pinelli family in Naples (1542–51) as singer, teacher, and composer. In 1554 he left Naples and went to the Netherlands. He was in England (1554–55) as a member of the choir of Philip II of Spain, when he met William Byrd and his family; by 1558 he had returned to Italy. In 1568 he went to Vienna as Kapellmeister to the Emperor Maximilian II, after whose death in 1576 he followed the next emperor, Rudolf II, to Prague. He served the emperor for the rest of his life, and was made a canon of Cambrai Cathedral, but did not reside there.

Many of his Masses are based on motets by contemporary composers. His madrigal settings follow the text closely (most of the texts are by contemporary pastoral poets such as Guarini); his later madrigals are simpler in form and increasingly homophonous.

Works Vocal around 40 Masses, motets; over 30 books of madrigals, including 1,073 secular and 144 spiritual works. His motet Super Flumina Babylonis was sent to Byrd in 1583, to which the latter responded with Quomodo Cantabimus in 1584.