Peter Philips (c. 1560–1628) was an English composer, organist, and Catholic priest. Born in Devonshire or London, he began his musical career as a chorister at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral. A committed Catholic during a time of Protestant rule, he left England in 1582 and settled in the Spanish Netherlands, where he became one of the leading keyboard virtuosos of his era. Philips served as organist at the English College in Rome and later worked under Lord Thomas Paget. His sacred choral works and keyboard compositions—including many found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book—reflect both English polyphonic tradition and continental influences. He died in Brussels in 1628.
