Heinrich Isaac

Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450-1517) was a Flemish composer of the middle Renaissance, perhaps only surpassed in originality and skill by Josquin Desprez. While his early life is obscure, Isaac became a musician in the service of Lorenzo the Magnificent, a member of the powerful Medici family, as well as court composer to Emperor Maximilian I. His travels in Europe led him to compose secular songs in French, German, and Italian, though many of these are thought lost. Isaac is perhaps most famous for the song "Innsbruck, I must leave thee," though much of his output was devoted to sacred music.