Events

Costanzo Porta is employed in Padua.
5 July – Gioseffo Zarlino succeeds Cipriano de Rore as maestro di cappella at St Mark's Basilica, Venice.
Pietro Taglia is recorded as maestro di cappella at Santa Maria presso San Celso, Milan.
Girolamo Cavazzoni supervises the building of the organ at the court church of St Barbara in Mantua.

Publications

Giovanni Animuccia – First book of madrigals for three voices (Rome: Valerio Dorico), also includes some motets and spiritual madrigals
Bálint Bakfark – Harmoniarum musicarum in usum testudinis factarum, book 1 (Kraków: Lazarus Andrea), a collection of lute tablature
Gioseffo Guami – First book of madrigals for five voices (Venice: Antonio Gardano)
Cipriano de Rore – Le vive fiamme
Pietro Taglia – First book of madrigals

Francesco Cellavenia – First book of motets for five voices (Milan: Francesco Moscheni)
Paolo Ferrarese – Passiones, Lamentationes, Responsoria, Benedictus, Miserere, multaque alia devotissima cantica ad offitium Hebdomadae Sanctae pertinentia (Venice: Girolamo Scotto)
Andrea Gabrieli – First book of sacrae cantiones for five voices or instruments (Venice: Antonio Gardano)
Claude Goudimel – Sixth book of psalms in the form of motets for four voices (Paris: Le Roy & Ballard)
Orlande de Lassus
- Modulorum for four, five, six, seven, eight, and ten voices, vol. 2 (Paris: Le Roy & Ballard), a collection of motets
- Second book of Sacrae cantiones perornatae for five and six voices (Venice: Girolamo Scotto)
- Sacrae lectiones novem ex propheta Iob for four voices (Venice: Antonio Gardano)
Jean Maillard – Motets for four, five, six, and seven voices, volumes 1 & 2 (Paris: Le Roy & Ballard)
Paulus Melissus – Historia de navicula vehente Christum et periclitante in mari for four voices
Diego Ortiz – Musices liber primus hymnos, Magnificas, Salves, motecta, psalmos, Venice

August 5 – Paola Massarenghi, Italian composer
date unknown
- Antonio il Verso, Italian composer (died 1641)
- Erasmo Marotta, Sicilian Jesuit composer (died 1621)
- Pedro Ruimonte, Spanish composer and musician (died 1627)
probable
- Gregor Aichinger, German composer (died 1628)
- Michael Cavendish, English court composer (died 1628)
- Carlo Gesualdo (c.1565/1566), Prince of Venosa, madrigalist, composer of church music (d. 1613)
- Sir William Leighton, composer and publisher (died 1622)
- Duarte Lobo, Portuguese composer (died 1646)
- Francis Pilkington, composer, lutenist and singer (died 1638)

August – Jacques Buus, organist and composer (born 1500)
mid-September – Cipriano de Rore, Flemish composer, primarily of Italian madrigals (born 1515/1516)
date unknown – David Köler, German composer (born c.1532)