Luca Marenzio

Italian composer Luca Marenzio (1553-1599) was the major figure in the Italian madrigal just before Monteverdi and was among his time's most famous composers alongside Lassus and Palestrina. Educated in Brescia, Marenzio moved to Rome in 1674 and, apart from brief engagements in other courts and cathedrals, spent most of his career there. Marenzio published 23 books of madrigals and is likewise known for sacred motets and in the production of the obscure villanelle form popular in his day. Despite attempts in the twentieth century to revive Marenzio's reputation, his work has never caught on and he remains little known.