Duarte Lobo

Duarte Lobo (c.1565–September 24, 1646) was a Portuguese composer of the late Renaissance. He was the most famous Portuguese composer of the time. Along with Felipe de Megalhaes, Manuel Cardoso, and John IV, King of Portugal, he is considered to represent the "golden age" of Portuguese polyphony.

Details of his life are sparse. He was born in Alcáçovas, and is known to have studied with Manuel Mendes at Évora. His first position was as maestro de capilla of the cathedral at Évora; by 1594 he was maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Lisbon. He also taught music at the Colégio da Claustra da Sé in Lisbon, and late in life he was director of a seminary in the same city.

While chronologically his life overlapped with the beginning of the Baroque music era, he was a composer who used the techniques of Renaissance, Palestrinian polyphony throughout his life, as could be expected in a musically conservative area isolated from the progressive musical trends of Italy and Germany. He published six books of sacred music, including masses, responsories, antiphons, magnificats and motets.