Born in Flanders, Heinrich Isaac spent his career between the Medici court in Florence and the court of Emperor Maximilian I in Vienna and Innsbruck. An heir to the Franco-Flemish tradition, who was then dazzled by the Italian Renaissance, he was one of the first European composers of the 16th century. His songs are highly varied in character, ranging from the most distraught expressions of grief to joyous Carnival revelry.