1500s in music

Events

• 1501:
  • April 28 – Bartolomeo Tromboncino receives an unhelpful letter of reference from Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, after abandoning his position at the Mantua court without permission for the second time.
  • May – Francisco de Peñalosa receives an increase in salary to 30,000 maravedis, the maximum paid to a singer-chaplain in the royal chapel of Ferdinand II of Aragon.
  • June 1 – Antoine Brumel is hired as a singer at the court of Philibert II, Duke of Savoy at Chambéry.
  • September – Jean Mouton begins a short tenure at the collegiate church of St André in Grenoble, teaching plainchant and polyphony to choirboys.
  • October 16 – Nikolaus Decius matriculates at Leipzig University.
  • exact date unknown – Robert Fayrfax graduates with a MusB at Cambridge University.
• 1502:
  • June 1 – Antoine de Longueval joins the chapel of Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, at a salary half again higher than any other singer.
  • exact date unknown – Adam of Fulda matriculates at the newly founded University of Wittenberg
• 1503: Pierre de la Rue, Alexander Agricola and Henry Bredemers travel to Heidelberg with the Habsburg court, where they most probably meet Arnolt Schlick.
• April 1503: Josquin des Prez leaves France and is employed by Ercole d'Este I in Ferrara; he leaves for Condé-sur-l'Escaut in April 1504.
• 1504:
  • May 3 – Josquin des Prez arrives in Condé-sur-l'Escaut to assume the post of Provost of the collegiate church of Notre Dame, recently vacated by Pierre Duwez.
  • Jacob Obrecht succeeds Josquin des Prez as maestro di capella in Ferrara.
• June 1505: After the death of Ercole d'Este and the succession of Alfonso I as Duke of Ferrara, Obrecht finds himself unemployed, but before he can secure another post, contracts the plague and dies scarcely a month after his employer.
• 1506:
  • June 5 – Heinrich Glarean begins his studies at the University of Cologne.
  • June 19 – On the recommendation of Emperor Maximilian I, Hans Buchner is appointed organist of the cathedral of Konstanz.
  • exact date unknown – Antoine Brumel settles in Ferrara, replacing Jacob Obrecht (who died in July 1505) at Alfonso I's court.
• 1507: Paul Hofhaimer settles in Augsburg, where he could be closer to Roman emperor Maximilian I whom he served as organist