Jacob Obrecht

1450-1505. Netherlandish composer. The first great composer to come from what is now Holland, he is the first important composer to leave compositions with Dutch text. He was organist at various centers in the Netherlands and had Erasmus as one of his choir boys in Utrecht. He is distinguished especially for his Masses and was one of the first to have such works appear in print at the press of Petrucci in Venice. He showed great individuality in handling the cantus firmi (preexistent melodies) in his Masses, and was one of the experimenters of his day.