Lasso

Orlando di Lasso (c. 1532-1594) was born in what today is Belgium. He began work as a singer in an aristocratic court at age 12 in Italy. By age 21 he had become Maestro di Cappella (chorus leader) at the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome, a prestigious post for someone his age. Between 1554-1555 his recorded history and therefore his whereabouts are uncertain. But in 1556 he joined the court of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria in 1556 as a tenor in the musical forces the Duke was assembling to be on par with those found in Italy. Upon the death of the Duke Albrecht’s Maestro di Capella in 1563, Lasso was appointed to that position he held that post until his own death some 30 years later. With over 2000 high quality works still extant, Lasso is a prolific and important figure in the history of Western Music.