Italian composer. Relatively little is known of Sances's youth. His early career seems to have centered in Rome: he received training at the German College between about 1609-14, appeared in a performance of the opera Amor pudico sponsored by Cardinal Montalto in 1614, and spent a period in the employ of Pio Enea degli Obizzi. By 1636 he was a tenor in the chapel of Emperor Ferdinand II, and continued to serve at the imperial court under the emperor's successors Ferdinand III and Leopold I. Sances was appointed vice-Kapellmeister in 1649, and on April 16, 1669 succeeded Antonio Bertali as imperial Kapellmeister, a position that he held until his death a decade later. During his service in Vienna he was active as a composer of sacred music, operas, sepolcri and secular chamber music. Sances was one of the long list of early baroque composers who wrote vocal variations on ostinato harmonies that included Caccini, d'India, Cifra, Dognazzi, Domenico Mazzocchi, Monteverdi, Landi, Giovanni Steffani, Vitali, Milanuzzi and Frescobaldi. In his time Sances was among the most renowned composers in Europe.