German composer. Bom into a family of organists; received initial musical instruction from his father; 1584-85, study in Venice with Andrea Gabrieli; 1586-ca. 1600, chamber organist to the Fugger family of Augsburg; 1601-4, director of town music in Nuremberg; 1604, moved to Ulm; from 1608, chamber organist and eventually KapellMeister to the Saxon electoral chapel in Dresden; died during a visit of this chapel to Frankfurt am Main. Despite the nature of his musical employment and his outstanding reputation in his own time as an organist, the majority (and the best) of his works are choral or polychoral, most with Latin texts. The sacred pieces include Masses, motets, Psalms, and spiritual songs. The earlier ones are for Catholic, the later for Lutheran use. The secular compositions include Italian madrigals, German part songs, dance songs, and instrumental works for ensembles or for keyboard.