Alfonso Ferrabosco was an Italian musician who was known for being the first composer of the Italian madrigal in England in the 1560s. He also composed sacred music and was a popular performer in the beginning of his career.

Ferrabosco was born in Bologna in 1543 to a musical family. The details regarding his youth are lost, but his father, Domenico Ferrabosco, likely provided Alfonso's earliest musical education. By 1551, they lived in Rome while Domenico worked as a singer in the papal chapel, but this came to an end in 1555 when Pope Paul IV removed all non-celibate singers from the choir. This led the Ferrabosco family to France, where Alfonso and two of his siblings were employed by Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine. It was in this phase of Ferrabosco's life that he developed his reputation as a performer. After a series of performances for various European royalty, his talents were recognized by Queen Elizabeth I, and in 1562 he joined the Queen's musicians as one of her highest-paid musicians. Historians have speculated that his generous compensation was the result of some secret agent espionage work that he did for the Queen, but there is no evidence to support this claim. The following year, he traveled to Italy to work for a Cardinal in Rome, which angered the Queen because she wanted to keep him in England. In 1564, he secretly returned to England without informing the Cardinal, which cast a dark shadow on his reputation in the Catholic Church.

For the next ten years, Ferrabosco continued to upset his patrons through the non-communication of his impulsive travels between Italy, France, and England. However, his time in England was very influential to English composers such as William Byrd, Orlande de Lassus, and Robert Parsons. He and Byrd developed a friendly yet competitive relationship and even collaborated on a large collection of vocal canons. In 1578, he married Susanna Symons, and by this time he had two illegitimate children who were being cared for by Gomer van Awsterwyke, which was arranged by the Queen. The older of the two children was Alfonso Ferrabosco II, who would go on to be a very successful musician but was never allowed to be reunited with his father. Shortly after the marriage, Ferrabosco began working for Cardinal Louis de Guise in Paris and had no intention of returning to England. Later that year, Ferrabosco was imprisoned in Rome for apostasy and defection, and was held until 1580. After he was released, he began employment under Carlo Emanuele I, Duke of Savoy, and soon had a son with Susanna named Carlo Emanuele. The Duke appreciated Ferrabosco's dedicated service and in 1586 granted him a life pension, which was to be transferred to either of his sons after their father's death. In 1587, he published two books of five-part madrigals that were dedicated to the Duke and Duchess of Savoy. The following year, he passed away while traveling to Bologna. Although Ferrabosco was not a part of the English madrigal craze of the late 1880s, he was the first in England to compose in this style. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi