He was a prolific composer of chansons in the middle of the 16th century, some of which were extremely popular and widely distributed.
He went to Italy sometime in the early 1550s, and is known to have been maestro di cappella for the Ferrarese Este family at Siena, in 1554.
By 1560 he had returned to Paris, though probably only briefly, for he came to settle a family estate, and by the next year he was in Italy again, this time in Rome.
His chansons tend to be homophonic, with occasional contrapuntal detail, but the later ones employ many of the rhythmic devices common in Italian secular music of the period, particularly the frottola, and also are filled with madrigalisms such as word-painting.
One of his chansons, Doulce memoire, became one of the most popular pieces of the entire 16th century, and exists in countless copies and arrangements in sources in many countries; it was a particular favorite of lutenists and keyboard players.