Antonio Rodríguez de Hita
Encyclopedia
Life
Rodríguez was born at Valverde de AlcaláValverde de Alcalá
Valverde de Alcalá is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain....
. He became maestro de capilla at Palencia Cathedral
Palencia Cathedral
Palencia Cathedral is situated in Palencia, Spain. It is dedicated to Saint Antoninus of Pamiers ....
(c.1740-c.1757) and at the Royal Convent of La Encarnación
Royal Convent of La Encarnación
The Royal Monastery of the Incarnation or Real Monasterio de la Encarnación is a convent of the order of Recolet Augustines located in Madrid, Spain. The institution mainly interned women from noble families, and was founded by the Queen Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III, and thus was well...
, Madrid.
His father, Marcos Rodríguez del Mercado, a schoolteacher at Corpa
Corpa
Corpa is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain.-External links:...
Madrid, him to study at the college of the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares , meaning Citadel on the river Henares, is a Spanish city, whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain...
, where he studied Latin, music theory, plainchant, organ and composition. Early in August 1738, he was named second organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
in the cathedral and in September was appointed maestro de capilla through open competition. Rodríguez took holy orders later. His earliest known works are the Vespers for 2 choirs written in the old style, 1740.
In August 1744 he became maestro de capilla at Palencia Cathedral
Palencia Cathedral
Palencia Cathedral is situated in Palencia, Spain. It is dedicated to Saint Antoninus of Pamiers ....
. In 1747 he was ordained priest and remained at Palencia until at death of José Mir y Lusa, maestro at the Royal Convent of La Encarnación
Royal Convent of La Encarnación
The Royal Monastery of the Incarnation or Real Monasterio de la Encarnación is a convent of the order of Recolet Augustines located in Madrid, Spain. The institution mainly interned women from noble families, and was founded by the Queen Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III, and thus was well...
, Madrid. While at Palencia he wrote the treatise Diapasón instructivo (1757) in which he promoted the French and Italian homophonic styles over the old Spanish style.
In 1765 Rodríguez was named Mir's replacement and moved to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in 1765. At this point he had already composed the 250 sacred works that constitute the bulk his oeuvre. Only three years after his arrival in Madrid he started his activity as a theatrical composer in association with the playwright Ramón de la Cruz
Ramón de la Cruz
Ramón de la Cruz , Spanish neoclassical dramatist, was born in Madrid.He was a clerk in the ministry of finance, and is the author of three hundred sainetes, little farcical sketches of city life, written to be played between the acts of a longer play. He published a selection in ten volumes...
, with whom he helped create the national zarzuela style. Their first work was Briseida(1768), a heroic zarzuela, based on a modernization of the work of Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño usually referred as Pedro Calderón de la Barca , was a dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. During certain periods of his life he was also a soldier and a Roman Catholic priest...
which was a great success. This was followed by the comedy Las segadoras de Vallecas, and in the next year, 1769, another rural comedy Las labradoras de Murcia. Rodríguez returned to the heroic genre with Scipión en Cartagena, but this was not well received and Rodríguez began to concentrate again on sacred music.
In 1777, taking advantage of his high standing in society, Rodríguez wrote a report on the state of music in Spain and demanded the creation of an Academy of Music to promote a Spanish style - though his own definition of the new Spanish style included many French and Italian characteristics. He died in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
.
Rodríguez de Hita was also teacher of the poet and musician Tomás de Iriarte.
Sacred
- Vísperas a 2 coros (1740)
- Canciones instrumentales (Escala diatónico-chromático-enharmónica) (1751)
- Completas (1751)
- PsalmsPsalmsThe Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
a 8 voces Credidi (1756) y Laudate Dominum (1759) - Misa Exsultavit ut gigas (1758)
- Villancicos Venid, escuchad, prestad atención (1746), Ha de este trono (1757), Esferas, qué es esto (1763) y Alegres las campanas (1764)
- Villancicos Venid al portal y Oye, pues, divino amor (1776); Para quién es, gitanillas, el panderillo (1780); En fieros huracanes (1770); Alto alorbe, (1777); Dadme consuelo, (1775) y Oh Admirable (1780)
- Masses O gloriosa virginum (1771); Pange lingua (1772); Jesu corona virginum (1774); Misa de difuntos (1778)
Theatrical
- El chasco del cortejo, tonadilla a solo (1768, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe)
- Briseida (libretto Ramón de la CruzRamón de la CruzRamón de la Cruz , Spanish neoclassical dramatist, was born in Madrid.He was a clerk in the ministry of finance, and is the author of three hundred sainetes, little farcical sketches of city life, written to be played between the acts of a longer play. He published a selection in ten volumes...
), heroic zarzuelaZarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
, 2 acts (11 July 1768, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe) - Las segadoras de Vallecas (libretto Ramón de la Cruz), burlesque zarzuela (3 September 1768, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe)
- Las labradoras de Murcia (libretto Ramón de la Cruz), burlesque zarzuela, 2 acts (16 Sept. 1769, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe)
- Hormesinda (libretto Nicolás Fernández de MoratínNicolas Fernández de MoratínNicolás Fernández de Moratín was the father of one of the most important Spanish writers and dramatists of the neoclassical era, Leandro Fernández de Moratín. He himself was involved in the Spanish literary movement of the day and heavily influenced his son. He wrote Arte de las putas a poem and...
), tragedy, 5 acts (12 Feb. 1770, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe) - Scipión en Cartagena (libretto Agustín Cordero), heroic zarzuela, 2 acts (15 July 1770, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe)
- El loco, vano y valiente, zarzuela, 2 acts (31 March 1771, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe), (at least 1 ariaAriaAn aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
in act II) - La república de las mujeres (libretto Ramón de la Cruz from Les Amazones Modernes by Marc-Antoine Legrand and Louis FuzelierLouis FuzelierLouis Fuzelier was a French dramatic author who was born in Paris in 1672 and died in the same city on September 19, 1752. He wrote more than 200 plays for the théâtres de la foire , alone or in collaboration with Alain-Rene Lesage, Alexis Piron or d'Orneval.Fuzelier wrote the libretto les Indes...
), saineteSaineteA sainete was a popular Spanish comic opera piece, a one-act dramatic vignette, with music. It was often placed at the end of entertainments, or between other types of performance. It was vernacular in style, and used scenes of low life. Active from the 18th to 20th centuries, it superseded the...
(4 October 1772, Madrid, Teatro del Príncipe)
Recordings
- Canciones instrumentales. La Grande Chapelle, dir. Albert Recasens (Lauda LAU005)
- Mass “O gloriosa Virginum”. La Grande Chapelle, dir. Albert Recasens(Lauda LAU009)
- La Briseida, opera (extracts) Aria No. 4. Amor, sólo tu encanto. Aria No. 13. Deydad que las venganzas. Maria Bayo, Les Talens LyriquesLes Talens LyriquesLes Talens Lyriques is a baroque orchestra founded in 1991 by French conductor Christophe Rousset.The ensemble takes its name from Jean-Philippe Rameau's opéra-ballet Les fêtes d'Hébé ou les talens lyriques .- External links :...
, Naive. on Arias de Zarzuela Barroca. (Naïve 8885).
Editions
- De pena de susto. from Las labradoras de Murcia in Spanish Theater Songs -- Baroque and Classical Eras: Medium High Voice/Medium Low Voice By Carol Mikkelsen