Statue of Victoria in Ávila, Spain
Xemenendura, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Tomás Luis de Victoria was born in Ávila, in the Kingdom of Castille, the seventh of nine children. As a boy, he sang in the choir at the Cathedral of the Savior in Ávila, but also learned to play the organ. His reputation as an organist had grown considerable enough that by 1565, he received a grant from King Philip II to study in Rome.

In Rome, Victoria worked alongside Palestrina, whom he succeeded as maestro di cappella of the Pontifical Roman Seminary, while holding an additional post at a Jesuit university in the city. He was ordained as a priest in 1574 and took another position at the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare.

Victoria spent 22 years in Rome, where he developed an international reputation as one of the finest composers of the late Renaissance. He returned to Spain in 1587, working in Madrid as a chaplain and organist for the royal family until his death in 1611.