Little is known astir Isaac's early life, however these are likely that he was natural around Flanders. These are known that he was writing music per mid 1470s, and a number one documental information to him is from either 1484, when he was court composer at Innsbruck. A as punishment season, he entered a service of Lorenzo de' Medici at Florence, where he was organist, choir master, and teacher to Lorenzo's kids; he assumed this post on the dying of Antonio Squarcialupi. One of his students inside Florence was a first Pope Leo X. Within 1494, a Medici were banished from either Florence; the era of Savonarola was beginning, and Isaac was left to call for employment elsewhere. All a same, he experienced married the Florentine then maintained the house there throughout the remainder of his life.

By 1497, Isaac was in the employ of Emperor Maximilian I. He travelled widely around Germany, and is credited by getting having the large influence in German composers of the period. Within 1502, he returned to Italy, going to Florence so Ferrara, where he competefive hundred using Josquin for employment: a celebrated letter from either the professional of the d'Este family compared the two composers, saying that "Isaac is of a better nature than Josquin, and while it is true that Josquin is a better composer, he only composes when he wants to, and not when asked; Isaac will compose when you want him to."

Isaac returned to Florence within 1514, and died there around 1517.

Isaac composed the wide kind of music, including masses, motets, German and Italian songs and instrumental music. He was one of a virtually all prolific composers of his instance, however his operate has been largely neglected in favor Josquin (although a composer Anton Webern wrote his thesis on Isaac). His better known function is probably a lied Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen, of which he made at least ii versions. These are imaginable, still, that a melody itself is not by Isaac, & sole a setting is original. A equivalent melody wwhen late utilized as a theme for the Lutheran chorale O Welt, ich muss dich lassen, which was the basis of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Johannes Brahms.

Isaac is held around high regard for his Choralis Constantinus. These are the immense anthology of terminated 450 chant-depending polyphonic motets for the Proper of the Mass. It experienced its origins inside a commission that Isaac received from either the Cathedral around Konstanz, Gernumerous inside 1507 to placed many of the Propers unique to the local liturgy. Isaac was within Konstanz because Maximilian got known as the meeting of the Reichstag (German Parliament of nobleman) there & Isaac get on hand to provide music for the Regal court chapel choir. When a deaths of each Maximilian & Isaac, Ludwig Senfl, who got been Isaac's pupil as a member of the Royal court choir, gathered all the Isaac settings of the Proper & situated the children into liturgical sequentially for the church season. However a anthology was non published until 1555, after Senfl's dying by which period a reforms of the Council of Trent got processed numerous of the texts obsolete. A motets remainside a few of the finest examples of chant-depending Renaissance concerted music in being.

A influence of Isaac was especially profound around Germany, since he was a 1st important master of the Franco-Flemish polyphonic style who two lived there, & whose music was cosmopolitan there. It was across him that a polyphonic style of a Netherlanders became widely accepted within Germany, making conceivable the farther development of contrapuntal music there.