Juan Vásquez (composer)
Encyclopedia
Juan Vásquez was a Spanish
priest
and composer
of the renaissance
. He can be considered part of the School of Andalusia group of composers along with Francisco Guerrero, Cristóbal de Morales
, Juan Navarro Hispalensis
and others.
composers, the life of Juan Vásquez is largely unknown, despite the best efforts of leading musicologists. As a result, all mentions of his age are educated guesses by professionals rather than hard facts. A chapel singer from boyhood, his engagement in 1511 as a "contralto
" at the cathedral of Plasencia
, Cáceres
indicates that he was still a boy at that time. He does not appear in any other records for nearly 20 years. In late 1530 he turns up at Badajoz Cathedral, teaching plainchant to the choirboys. The year 1539 finds him singing in Palencia Cathedral, where he became known as a composer. He then seems to have gone to Madrid
in 1541, but by 1545 he was back in his native city of Badajoz as the cathedral's chapel master (Maestro de capilla). From 1551, he was on the payroll of Seville's Don Antonio de Zuñiga, to whom Vásquez dedicated his collection that year of Villancicos I canciones. It's thought that Vásquez remained in Seville until his death. In 1560 all his secular compositions were published in Recopilatión de sonetos y villancicos.
) of 1556. In this work primarily for four voices (some sections included three voices and others five) Vásquez not only demonstrated his ability with extended forms of music but also conveyed his facility for counterpoint and his beautiful and melodious lines. Cantus firmi
are apparent in this work but he used them intermittently in all of the voices at various places. The music employs both plainchant and polyphony, with his best and most extensive use of polyphony to be found in the Missa pro defunctis from that collection. The Office of the Dead is very highly regarded for its contemplative qualities, standing well alongside Vásquez's elegantly simple songs which have more reputation today.
The bulk of Vásquez's compositions are ingeniously written secular villancico
s (approximately 90 in total), employing texts by leading Spanish poets of the day. Most of the music is formally typical but qualitative aspects of his music included easy counterpoint, textual emphasis with care given to the music for this purpose and delightful variations. Many of them also include folk poetry and allude to Spanish folk song styles, and they seem to have been quite popular during the composer's lifetime.
and Lauds
in addition to the more usual Vespers
and Mass
. In the first publication, the original Sevillan chants appear alongside their polyphonic elaborations. It was in Spain and Portugal
that the tradition of stile antico
requiem settings had the greatest longevity, its ramifications extending well into the next century (as with Tomás Luis de Victoria
's setting), and, through the colonial possessions of both countries, into new continents as well. The service seems to follow the example of Morales closely, and indeed both were written for Seville.
Vásquez composed his imposing Agenda defunctorum in 1556 in Sevilla. For the text Vásquez has chosen parts out of the Officium Defunctorum of the Seville Cathedral. Versions of most of these chants can be found in the modern Liber Usualis
. This work by Vásquez consists of six parts: Inventorium (Invitatory
), In Primo Nocturno (first night), In secundo Noctruno (second night), In tertio Nocturno (third night), Ad Laudes (laude
), and Missa pro defunctis. The musical items not set polyphonically by Vásquez would have been performed using their original plainchant, possibly with improvised polyphony. The items which Vásquez set whose corresponding chants can be found in the Liber Usualis are the Invitatory, Psalm no.5, nine antiphon
s, five lessons, one Responsorium, the Canticum Zachariae, the Requiescant in pace, Amen
and the Missa pro defunctis.
Vásquez has written this Agenda defunctorum for four voices (SATB
). In most of the pieces from the Agenda defunctorum, Vásquez uses the homophonic
and polyphonic
style alternately. The Canticum Zachariae is optimised for alternating between these, in which the strophe with even numbers will be performed by several voices (SATB), and the strophe with odd numbers by one voice. The Responsorium Libera me, Domine is similarly written for alternating plainsong and polyphony. The Graduale is set for three voices (ATB).
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of the renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
. He can be considered part of the School of Andalusia group of composers along with Francisco Guerrero, Cristóbal de Morales
Cristóbal de Morales
Cristóbal de Morales was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Victoria.- Life :...
, Juan Navarro Hispalensis
Juan Navarro Hispalensis
Juan Navarro of Seville, hence the epiphet Hispalensis was a Spanish composer. He is not related to the Mexican composer Juan Navarro Gaditanus, ....
and others.
Biography
Even relative to the standards of early musicEarly music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
composers, the life of Juan Vásquez is largely unknown, despite the best efforts of leading musicologists. As a result, all mentions of his age are educated guesses by professionals rather than hard facts. A chapel singer from boyhood, his engagement in 1511 as a "contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
" at the cathedral of Plasencia
Plasencia
Plasencia is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it had a population of 41,447.Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's strategic location along the Silver Route, or Ruta de la Plata...
, Cáceres
Cáceres, Spain
Cáceres is the capital of the same name province, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. , its population was 91,131 inhabitants. The municipio has a land area of 1,750.33 km², and is the largest in geographical extension in Spain....
indicates that he was still a boy at that time. He does not appear in any other records for nearly 20 years. In late 1530 he turns up at Badajoz Cathedral, teaching plainchant to the choirboys. The year 1539 finds him singing in Palencia Cathedral, where he became known as a composer. He then seems to have gone 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 1541, but by 1545 he was back in his native city of Badajoz as the cathedral's chapel master (Maestro de capilla). From 1551, he was on the payroll of Seville's Don Antonio de Zuñiga, to whom Vásquez dedicated his collection that year of Villancicos I canciones. It's thought that Vásquez remained in Seville until his death. In 1560 all his secular compositions were published in Recopilatión de sonetos y villancicos.
Music
His sole surviving work of sacred music is the Agenda defunctorum (Office of the DeadOffice of the Dead
The Office of the Dead is a prayer cycle of the Liturgy of the Hours in the Roman Catholic Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper reading on All Souls' Day for all souls in Purgatory, and can be a votive office on other days when said for a particular decedent...
) of 1556. In this work primarily for four voices (some sections included three voices and others five) Vásquez not only demonstrated his ability with extended forms of music but also conveyed his facility for counterpoint and his beautiful and melodious lines. Cantus firmi
Cantus firmus
In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
are apparent in this work but he used them intermittently in all of the voices at various places. The music employs both plainchant and polyphony, with his best and most extensive use of polyphony to be found in the Missa pro defunctis from that collection. The Office of the Dead is very highly regarded for its contemplative qualities, standing well alongside Vásquez's elegantly simple songs which have more reputation today.
The bulk of Vásquez's compositions are ingeniously written secular villancico
Villancico
The villancico was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. With the decline in popularity of the villancicos in the 20th century, the term became reduced to mean merely "Christmas carol"...
s (approximately 90 in total), employing texts by leading Spanish poets of the day. Most of the music is formally typical but qualitative aspects of his music included easy counterpoint, textual emphasis with care given to the music for this purpose and delightful variations. Many of them also include folk poetry and allude to Spanish folk song styles, and they seem to have been quite popular during the composer's lifetime.
Agenda defunctorum
Vásquez's setting (published in 1556) is remarkable for being part of a complete Agenda defunctorum that included MatinsMatins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
and Lauds
Lauds
Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...
in addition to the more usual Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
and Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
. In the first publication, the original Sevillan chants appear alongside their polyphonic elaborations. It was in Spain and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
that the tradition of stile antico
Stile antico
Stile antico, literally "ancient style", is a term describing music from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries. It refers to a manner of composition which is historically conscious, as opposed to stile moderno...
requiem settings had the greatest longevity, its ramifications extending well into the next century (as with Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria , was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an...
's setting), and, through the colonial possessions of both countries, into new continents as well. The service seems to follow the example of Morales closely, and indeed both were written for Seville.
Vásquez composed his imposing Agenda defunctorum in 1556 in Sevilla. For the text Vásquez has chosen parts out of the Officium Defunctorum of the Seville Cathedral. Versions of most of these chants can be found in the modern Liber Usualis
Liber Usualis
The Liber Usualis is a book of commonly used Gregorian chants in the Catholic tradition, compiled by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes in France....
. This work by Vásquez consists of six parts: Inventorium (Invitatory
Invitatory
The Invitatory is the psalm Venite exsultemus, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text, used to start Nocturns in the Divine Office. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of...
), In Primo Nocturno (first night), In secundo Noctruno (second night), In tertio Nocturno (third night), Ad Laudes (laude
Laude
The lauda or lauda spirituale was the most important form of vernacular sacred song in Italy in the late medieval era and Renaissance. Laude remained popular into the nineteenth century....
), and Missa pro defunctis. The musical items not set polyphonically by Vásquez would have been performed using their original plainchant, possibly with improvised polyphony. The items which Vásquez set whose corresponding chants can be found in the Liber Usualis are the Invitatory, Psalm no.5, nine antiphon
Antiphon
An antiphon 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....
s, five lessons, one Responsorium, the Canticum Zachariae, the Requiescant in pace, Amen
Amen
The word amen is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Its use in Judaism dates back to its earliest texts. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. In Islam, it is the standard ending to Dua and the...
and the Missa pro defunctis.
Vásquez has written this Agenda defunctorum for four voices (SATB
SATB
In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work...
). In most of the pieces from the Agenda defunctorum, Vásquez uses the homophonic
Homophony
In music, homophony is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords. This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all parts move in parallel rhythm and pitch. A homophonic...
and polyphonic
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
style alternately. The Canticum Zachariae is optimised for alternating between these, in which the strophe with even numbers will be performed by several voices (SATB), and the strophe with odd numbers by one voice. The Responsorium Libera me, Domine is similarly written for alternating plainsong and polyphony. The Graduale is set for three voices (ATB).
Dedicated discs
- Agenda Defunctorum: Capilla PeñafloridaCapilla PeñafloridaThe Capilla Peñaflorida is a Spanish early music group founded in 1985 by Jon Bagüés.The first director was the late José Rada Sereno . Currently musical direction is shared by the founder, the Basque musicologist Jon Bagüés , and by the bass Josep Cabré...
, Josep Cabré. Isabel Álvarez (soprano), Karmele Iriarte (soprano), M. Jesús Ugalde (soprano), David Azurza (alto), Mirari Pérez (alto), David Sagastume (alto), Jon Bagüés (tenor), Josep Benet (tenor), Peio Ormazábal (tenor), Nicolás Basarrate (bass), Aitor Sáiz de Cortázar (bass), Gonzalo Ubani (bass), Fernando Sánchez (dulcian), Loreto Fernández Imaz (organ). CD, 73:22, Almaviva 0122, ASIN: B000025Q3B, UPCUniversal Product CodeThe Universal Product Code is a barcode symbology , that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade items in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item...
: 8427287101220, recorded June 1996 (Seville). - Ex Agenda Defunctorum Officium: Coro de Cámara de la Universidad de Salamanca, Bernardo García-Bernalt. Gloria Ramos Sánez de Tejada, Amparo Cerdá Miralles, Araceli Rodríguez Flores, Paz Carrasco García, Paz Vara Castro, Miriam Gutíerrez Martínez, Inmaculada Vara Castro, Raquel Nieto Arroyo, Mercedes Pinto Oviedo, Bernardo García-Bernalt Alonso (director), etc. CD, 49:50, Radio Nacional de España 640036, recorded January 1991.
Various artists
- Canciones y Ensaladas - Chansons et pièces instrumentales du Siècle d'Or: Ensemble Clément Janequin, Dominique Visse. Visse (countertenor), Bruno Boterf (tenor), Vincent BouchotVincent BouchotVincent Bouchot is a French composer and musicologist. For many years he sang as baritone with the Ensemble Clément Janequin....
(baritone), François Fauché (baritone), Renaud Delaigue (bass), Éric Bellocq (lute, guitar), Massimo Moscardo (lute), Matthieu Lusson (viol), Jean-Marc Aymes (positive organ). CD, 58:00, Harmonia Mundi HMC 90 1627, recorded January 1997. - The Victory of Santiago - Voices of Renaissance Spain: The Concord Ensemble. Paul Flight (countertenor), Pablo Corá (tenor), N. Lincoln Hanks (tenor), Daniel Carberg (tenor), Sumner Thompson (baritone), Daniel Cole (bass), Bruce Remaker (countertenor). CD, 63:00, Dorian 90274, recorded February 1999 (Troy, NY).
External links
- EL CANTO DEL CABALLERO (Videos of some Juan Vázquez works performed by two vihuelas and voice)
- Medieval.org search page lists many discs featuring Vásquez (most only containing a single piece)
- Answers.com's Vásquez page