Composer. He was the first important creator of madrigals (consort songs) outside of Italy, and helped spread the popularity of that genre throughout Europe. Monte was born in Mechelen, Flanders (now part of Antwerp, Belgium), and trained as a choirboy at the city's St. Rumbolds Cathedral. Like many Franco-Flemish musicians of the day he launched his career in Italy, holding various posts in Naples (where he knew Orlande de Lassus) and Rome. The first of his 34 books of madrigals was published in 1554. That same year he journeyed to England for a short-lived stint serving King Philip II of Spain, husband of Queen Mary; during that time he met composer William Byrd, beginning a lifelong epistolary friendship. Some historians believe Monte planted the seeds for the madrigal's flowering in England through his correspondence with Byrd, the first of his countrymen to attempt the genre. From 1568 until his death Monte was Kapellmeister to the Hapsburg court of Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian II and Rudolf II. His last years were rather melancholy. In 1583 he was obliged to accompany the Hapsburgs in their move from Vienna to the comparative isolation of Prague. Having taken holy orders, he yearned to retire to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Cambrai, where he had been named a canon, but Rudolf refused to release him from service. Old, ailing and lonely in the Bohemian capital, he nevertheless remained productive to the end. His last compositions appeared in 1601, when he was 80, an extremely rare example of octogenerian art during the Renaissance. He was buried at Prague's Saint James Church. Monte was one of the most industrious composers of the pre-Baroque era. A survey of his output lists over 1200 madrigals, 320 motets, 40 Masses, and dozens of solo songs; the madrigals in particular were printed in several editions and in his lifetime Monte was ranked in importance with Lassus and Palestrina. He was not a stylistic innovator like those men and his fame went into a long eclipse following his death; but the stately grace and remarkably consistent high quality of his music stood the test of time and found many new admirers in the 20th Century.