Monte was a Flemish composer who began his muscial career as a choirboy in Mechlin. He went to Naples to serve for the Pinelli family (1542-51). In 1554 Monte was in Antwerp from where he travelled to England, meeting Byrd. While in England he served for the court of Phillip II of Spain in his chapel. After serving in the house of Tudor (Mary Tudor was Phillips' wife) he went to Rome with the Cardinal Orsini. Monte served as the Kapellmeister for the Hapsburg court in Vienna and Prague from 1568 until his death. Monte was an highly regarded composer and bountiful in his production. Composing over one thousand madrigals in thirty four different volumes he also composed in the genres of chansons, masses and motets. The motets numbered approximately two hundred and fifty and the masses numbered as high as forty. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi