Nicolas Gombert

Franco-Flemish composer Nicolas Gombert (ca. 1495-ca. 1560) was a renaissance master whose influence was so profound his works were still the source of imitation as late as the early seventeenth century. An unsubstantiated claim places Gombert as a student of Josquin des Prez; from about 1526, Gombert served in the court chapel of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and in 1529 Gombert was named maître des enfants at the royal chapel. In 1540, Gombert was accused of sexual abuse and discharged without pay, though by 1547 he had won the emperor's favor back and awarded a small benefice, upon which he retired.