Perhaps a pupil of Josquin, Gombert served for much of his life in the musical establishment of the Emperor Charles V, travelling with the court as occasion demanded. He is said to have been sent to the galleys for violating a boy in the Emperor’s service, but later released. The dates of his birth and death are uncertain.

Sacred and Secular Vocal Music

Gombert is known for using imitation in his polyphonic counterpoint, with which he creates textures of considerable variety. Ten complete Mass settings survive, as well as a quantity of motets, published in 1539 and 1541, and some 70 chansons, which demonstrate his command of the techniques and musical idiom of a period largely dominated by Franco-Flemish composers.