Obrecht is historically considered to be second only to Josquin Desprez in musical import from the late fifteenth century. He may very well have been the most important figure from northern Europe in compositional techniques. Serving as the master of song in Utrecht, Obrecht was also the choirmaster at Notre Dame in Bergen op Zoom. He also served for two years as the singing master at Cambrai, master of the chapel at Bruges and from 1494 until his retirement he served at Notre Dame in Antwerp. Obrecht was already mentioned by Tinctoris in 1475 with the best musicians of his day. The music which Obrecht composed included twenty eight masses and twenty eight motets with a great deal of other sacred music. He employed the traditional use of imitation and borrowing from cantus firmus using fragments in a literal sense as well as a manipulative sense. Obrecht varied the voices where the cantus firmus appeared used melodic fragments found at the beginning of a former piece and inserted them in the middle of new arrangements and changed the theme from movement to movement in the context of his masses. The range of Obrecht's use of material with the cantus firmus is reflected in his development of counterpoint which also had an extensive breadth including placid patterns to quick moving contrapuntal voicings. Unfortunately Obrecht did not develop counterpoints to any great length but his music was filled with beautific sounds perhaps due to parallel tenths in his outer voices or because he accentuated chords with roots in the bass. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi