Josquin des Prez
Josquin des Prez was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance era, and is widely considered by music scholars to be the first master of the high Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music that was emerging during his lifetime.
During the 16th century, Josquin gradually acquired the reputation as the greatest composer of the age, his mastery of technique and expression universally imitated and admired.
Yet in spite of Josquin's colossal reputation, which endured until the beginning of the Baroque era and was revived in the 20th century, his biography is shadowy, and next to nothing is known about his personality.
The only surviving work which may be in his own hand is a graffito on the wall of the Sistine Chapel. The lives of dozens of minor composers of the Renaissance are better documented than the life of Josquin.
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