Philippe de Monte (1521-1603), catalogued here as Demonte, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance. Born in Mechelen, he became one of the most prolific and respected composers of his age.

De Monte served at the Habsburg court and wrote masses, motets, madrigals and chansons. His long career placed him at the centre of European sacred and secular vocal music during the generation after Josquin and before the early Baroque.

His music is polished, contrapuntally assured and sensitive to text. In the madrigal especially, he showed an ability to balance learned technique with expressive shape and rhetorical clarity.

Although not as familiar to modern audiences as Palestrina or Lassus, de Monte was a major figure in his own time. The catalogue spelling may be compact, but the musical footprint is large.