Cristobal de Morales (1500-1553); ESP

Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500–1553) was a Spanish composer and one of the foremost masters of sacred polyphony in the generation before Palestrina. Probably born in Seville, he held musical posts in Ávila and Plasencia before joining the papal choir in Rome in 1535. He remained there for about a decade, then returned to Spain, serving as maestro de capilla at Toledo Cathedral and later holding positions in Marchena and Málaga.

Morales composed almost entirely sacred music and achieved an international reputation unusual for a Spanish composer of his time. His surviving works include more than twenty Masses, numerous motets, magnificats, lamentations, and other liturgical settings. Among the most celebrated are Missa Mille regretz, Missa L’homme armé, and his settings of the Magnificat. His grave, sonorous style and mastery of counterpoint strongly influenced later Iberian composers, including Francisco Guerrero and Tomás Luis de Victoria.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.