An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" + φωνή "voice") in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work.

This gives rise to the general term 'antiphony', which may be used for any call and response style of singing such as the kirtan and the sea shanty. Particularly, any piece of music performed by two semi-independent choirs in interaction, often singing alternate musical phrases, is known as 'antiphonal'.Antiphonal psalmody is the singing or musical playing of psalms by alternating groups of performers.

The "mirror" structure of the Hebrew psalms renders it probable that the antiphonal method was present in the services of the ancient Israelites. According to the historian Socrates of Constantinople, it was introduced into Christian worship by Ignatius of Antioch (died 107) who, in a vision, had seen angels singing in alternating choirs.

Antiphons have remained an integral part of the worship in the Greek Orthodox church and the Eastern Catholic churches. The practice was not found in the Latin Church until more than two centuries later. Ambrose, bishop of Milan and Gregory the Great, known for their contribution to the formulation of Gregorian chant, are credited with 'antiphonaries', collections of works suitable for antiphon, that are still in use in the Roman Catholic Church today.

Heinrich Schütz (8 October (JC), 1585 – 6 November 1672) was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi. He wrote what is traditionally considered to be the first German opera, Dafne (Opitz-Schütz), performed at Torgau in 1627, of which the music has since been lost. He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 28 July with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. He was buried in the Dresden Frauenkirche but his tomb has been destroyed.

He was born in Köstritz, the eldest son of Christoph Schütz and Euphrosyne Bieger. In 1590 the family moved to Weißenfels, where his father Christoph managed the inn "Zum Ring". When Schütz lived with his parents, his musical talents were discovered by Moritz von Hessen-Kassel in 1599. After being a choir-boy he went on to study law at Marburg before going to Venice from 1609–1612 to study music with Giovanni Gabrieli. Gabrieli is the only person Schütz ever referred to as being his teacher. He also inherited a ring from Gabrieli shortly before the latter's death. He subsequently had a short stint as organist at Kassel before moving to Dresden in 1615 to work as court composer to the Elector of Saxony. In 1619 Schütz married Magdalena Wildeck who had been born in 1601. She bore two daughters before her death in 1625: Anna Justina born in 1621 and Euphrosyne born in 1623.

Hans Leo Hassler (in German, Hans Leo Haßler) (baptized 26 October 1564 – 8 June 1612) was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, elder brother of the less-famous Jakob Hassler. He was born in Nuremberg and died in Frankfurt am Main.

Hans Leo Hassler, born in Nuremberg and baptized 26 October 1564, was the son of an organist, and received his first instruction in music from his father, Issak Hassler. In 1584, Hassler became the first of many German composers of the time who went to Italy to continue their studies; he arrived in Venice during the peak of activity of the Venetian school, the composers who wrote in the resplendent polychoral style, which was soon to become popular outside of its native city. Hassler was already familiar with some of this music, as numerous prints had circulated in Germany due to the interest of Leonhard Lechner, who was associated with Orlandus Lassus in Munich.

While in Venice, Hassler became friends with Giovanni Gabrieli, with whom he composed a wedding motet for Georg Gruber, a Nuremberg merchant living in Venice, in 1600. Together they studied with Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni's uncle. Under Andrea, Hassler received instruction in composition and organ playing.

Jonathan Little (born December 22, 1984 in Pensacola, Florida) is an American professional poker player who won both the World Poker Tour's Season VI Mirage Poker Showdown and Season VII Foxwoods World Poker Finals and won the WPT Season VI Player of the Year award.

Little was a student at the University of West Florida studying psychology when he began playing poker with friends. As his interest in poker grew, it led him to study many books on poker, such as The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. After earning an initial bankroll of $35,000 online over a six month period, he decided to drop out of college and play poker professionally.

Little is a successful online poker player playing under the screen names "FieryJustice", "Jcardshark", and "JonLittle".

Little was a participant in the now defunct online poker training site called SNGIcons.com. Little has since created his own poker training website, FloatTheTurn.com

At the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker playing under his PokerStars screen name "Jcardshark" Little finished 7th place in the $10,300 buy-in (event #5), earning $107,535 at a final table consisting of other well known players like Major League Baseball Pitcher Orel Hershiser (O. Hershiser), 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker (Money800) online pros Nick Niergarth (gbmantis), Greg Hobson (DuckU), Scott Dorin (dorinvandy) who won the event and the European Poker Tour Season IV Grand Final Champion Glen Chorny (Choron). This win brings Little's total online cashes on Pokerstars to over $280,000.

Manuel Cardoso (baptized 11 December 1566 – 24 November 1650) was a Portuguese composer and organist. With Duarte Lobo and John IV of Portugal, he represented the "golden age" of Portuguese polyphony.

Cardoso is not known to be related to an older contemporary composer of the same name; the precentor Manuel Cardoso, who published a book of Latin passions in Leiria in 1575.

Cardoso was born in Fronteira, near Portalegre, most likely in 1566. He attended the Colégio dos Moços do Coro, a choir school associated with the Évora cathedral, studying with Manuel Mendes and Cosme Delgado. In 1588 he joined the Carmelite order, taking his vows in 1589. In the early 1620s he was resident at the ducal household of Vila Viçosa, where he was befriended by the Duke of Barcelos—later to become King John IV. For most of his career he was the resident composer and organist at the Carmelite Convento do Carmo in Lisbon.

Cardoso's works are models of Palestrinian polyphony, and are written in a refined, precise style which completely ignores the development of the Baroque idiom elsewhere in Europe. His style has much in common with Tomás Luis de Victoria, in its careful treatment of dissonance, occasional polychoral writing, and frequent cross-relations, which were curiously common among both Iberian and English composers of the time. Three books of masses survive; many of the works are based on motets written by King John IV himself, and others are based on motets by Palestrina. Cardoso was widely published, often with the help of King John IV to defray costs. Many of his works—especially the elaborate polychoral compositions, which probably were the most progressive—were destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake and fire of 1755.