Victoria, Tomas Luis de (b Avila, 1548 - d Madrid, 20 August, 1611)
Victoria (or Vittoria in the Italian form) was a choirboy at Avila Cathedral, and when his voice broke in c1565 he received a grant from Philip II for further study in Rome, and he was sent to the Jesuit College Germanico, a seminary founded by St Ignatius Loyola to combat Lutheransim, and perhaps studied under Palestrina. He was a singer and organist at Santa Maria di Monserrato (1569 to at least 1574), and from 1571 to 1576-7 he taught at the Collegio Germanico. His first collection of printed works appeared in 1572 with a dedication to Cardinal Otto von Truchess von Walburg. For a time, the German and Roman seminaries were joined, but in 1573, Pope Gregory XIII reorganised the Collegico Germanico as a separate institution with Victoria as maestro di cappella. For the ceremony of the separation, Victoria wrote a setting of Super flumina for two antiphonal choirs of four voices and organ; it was performed by torchlight with a collaboration of singers from the Sistine Chapel.

In 1575 he became a priest and joined the Oratory of S Filippo Neri; the following year saw the publication of his second collection of works. He resigned from his post at the Collegico Germanico in 1578, and in the 1580s he returned to Spain as chaplain to Philip II's sister, Empress Maria, at the Descalzas Reales convent where he remained until her death in 1603; during this time further collections of his works were printed. He remained in there as organist until his death, apart from a visit to Rome (1592-5) where he attended Palestrina's funeral.

Victoria wrote exclusively Latin sacred music, most of which was printed in his lifetime. Although his output ranged widely through the liturgy he is chiefly remembered for his masses and motets. Like Palestrina, he wrote in a serious, devotional style, often responding emotionally to the texts with dynamic word painting. Some of his more poignant pieces are characterised by a religious, almost mystical fervour.