1580 in music

Events

• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina loses his wife in an outbreak of plague.

  Bands formed

• The Concerto delle donne is founded by Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara.

  Popular music

• First recorded appearance of the English ballad Greensleeves.

  Publications

• Giammateo Asola – Second book of masses for four voices, also includes a Requiem mass for two choirs
• Lodovico Balbi – Masses for four and five voices
• Anthoine de Bertrand
• *First book of sonets chrestiens mis en musique for four voices
• *Second book of sonets chrestiens mis en musique for four voices
• Joachim a Burck
• *Officium Sacrosanctae Coenae Dominicae, super cantiunculam: Quam mirabilis ex primo libro odarum compositum for four voices
• *Hebdomas divinitus instituta for four voices
• Luca Marenzio – First book of madrigals for five voices
• Leonhard Päminger – Quartus tomus cantionem ecclestiacarum..., published posthumously in Nuremberg
• Johann Wanning – Sacrae Cantiones quinque, sex, septem et octo voces compositae, et tum vivae voces, tum musicis instrumentis aptatae

  Births

• July 6 – Johann Stobäus, German composer
• date unknown – Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger, German-Italian performer and composer of lute, theorbo and chitarrone music
• probable
• *Michael East, English organist and composer
• *Thomas Ford, English composer
• *Adriana Basile, Italian composer

  Deaths

• January 18 – Antonio Scandello, Italian composer
• April 1 – Alonso Mudarra, Spanish composer and vihuelist
• September 15 – Geert van Turnhout, Flemish composer
• November 30 – Richard Farrant, English composer of church music, choirmaster, playwright and theatrical producer