Adrian Willaert
(painter unknown)

In July 1515, Willaert entered the service of Cardinal Ippolito I d’Este of Ferrara. Ippolito was a traveler, and Willaert likely accompanied him to various places, including Hungary, where he likely resided from 1517 to 1519. When Ippolito died in 1520, Willaert entered the service of Duke Alfonso of Ferrara. In 1522 Willaert had a post at the court chapel of Duke Alfonso; he remained there until 1525, at which time records show he was in the employ of Ippolito II d’Este in Milan.

Willaert’s most significant appointment, and one of the most significant in the musical history of the Renaissance, was his selection as maestro di cappella of St. Mark’s at Venice. Music had languished there under his predecessor, Pietro de Fossis (1491–1525), but that was shortly to change. The Venetian Doge Andrea Gritti had a rather large hand in Willaert’s appointment to the position of maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s.

From his appointment in 1527 until his death in 1562, he retained the post and composers came from all over Europe to study with him. During his previous employment with the dukes of Ferrara, he had acquired numerous contacts and influential friends elsewhere in Europe, including the Sforza family in Milan; doubtless this assisted in the spread of his reputation, and the consequent import of musicians from foreign countries into northern Italy. In Ferrarese court documents, Willaert is referred to as “Adriano Cantore”. In addition to his output of sacred music, he wrote numerous madrigals, a secular form; he is considered a Flemish madrigal composer of the first rank.