Josquin des Prez (French: [ʒɔskɛ̃ depʁe]; c. 1450–1455 – 27 August 1521) was a French composer of High Renaissance music. A central figure of the Franco-Flemish School, Josquin is considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance and had a profound influence on the music of 16th-century Europe. He built on the work of his predecessors Du Fay and Binchois, and his elder contemporaries Ockeghem and Busnois, to develop a complex style of expressive—and often imitative—polyphony which informs much of his work. In addition, he pioneered the development of word painting and gradually departed from the early Renaissance emphasis on melismatic lines, preferring to use shorter, repeated motifs between voices. A singer himself, Josquin's compositions are chiefly vocal, including masses, motets a…Read more on Wikipedia