Adrian Willaert studied under the French composer Jean Mouton in Paris, where he had originally traveled to study law but instead decided to pursue music. This apprenticeship took place in the early 16th century, before Willaert’s move to Italy around 1514, and connected him directly to the leading traditions of the French royal chapel, where Mouton served as principal composer.
Mouton, renowned for his refined motets and mastery of contrapuntal technique, became Willaert’s formative musical mentor, shaping the young Flemish composer’s early stylistic development. Contemporary accounts, including those of Gioseffo Zarlino, confirm that Willaert not only met Mouton in Paris but formally studied composition with him, establishing a teacher–student relationship that influenced the evolution of Willaert’s later work and his eventual role as founder of the Venetian School.
