Sacred works by the Rudolf II Imperial Chapel composers in the Iberian world: circulation, reception and context

This article offers an overview about the circulation of the Sacred Music by composers of the Imperial Chapel in the Iberian world. This is possible due to preserved musical sources and other varied documentation such as inventories, book catalogues and personal documenta- tion. The article also introduces how these works were a singularity within the court institutions and private libraries. Therefore, although some works were dissemi- nated through several places, the reception was quite scarce and was reduced to private cenacles. However, the circulation of music books, instruments and musical agents between the courts of Madrid, Lis- bon, Vienna and Prague in this period was not, in any case, somewhat anomalous. Moreover, some members of the imperial chapel, as in the case of Philippe de Monte, were habitual in some of the libraries and inventories in the Iberian world. Although, most of these were the pro- fane works that, probably, could have arrived through different channels than the sacred works.