Gombert's compositions are entirely vocal, some for ensembles of up to twelve distinct voices. As opposed to his Italian contemporaries, who had begun work on a more animated and harmonically-oriented idiom, Gombert kept entirely within the domain of strict counterpoint -- and in fact seemed to hold the new musical developments of the time in low regard. His contrapuntal language is based on that of Josquin, but taken to the next level of complexity. A substantial volume of Gombert's compositions survive, including masses, a large number of motets, secular chansons, a set of eight magnificats (one in each mode), and various isolated movements. Shortly after his death, Gombert was mourned as the last of the great masters of vocal polyphony. Indeed, his style continued to represent the most advanced development of imitative counterpoint, at least until the elaboration of the fugue in the baroque era. ~ Todd McComb, Rovi