Macque was a Flemish composer who took residence in Italy. As a musician he played the organ and was known for his teaching. Early in his life he sang for the royal chapel in Vienna and later studied with Phillipe de Monte. In 1574 he had already moved to Rome and wrote and published some of his first madrigals. With other composers, such as Scipione, Dentice, Rodio, Stella, and Montella, Macque participated in the academy of Don Fabrizio Gesualdo after moving to Naples around 1585. He became the second organist to Stella, organist to the chapel of the Spanish Viceroy, and in 1599 master of the chapel. The genres of his compositions included madrigals, motets, chansons, ricercares, canzones, and a number of keyboard settings. Macque's ricercares demonstrate the ken of his counterpoint mastery. Madrigals were often composed within the schema of AA'BCC' and his melodic textures were quite extensive -- from an expressive experimentation to imitation countered with homophony. In one of his last books of motets, Masque demonstrated a sense of adventurous chromaticism with forceful dissonances and the use of what were then considered unusual triads. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi