Miguel de Fuenllana
Encyclopedia
Miguel de Fuenllana was a Spanish vihuelist
and composer of the Renaissance
.
, in the province of Ciudad Real
, although he was born in Navalcarnero
, Madrid
. Blind
from birth, he composed a Libro de música para vihuela intitulado Orphenica Lyra (Seville
, 1554), dedicated to Philip II of Spain
. At the arrival of Isabel de Valois, third wife of Philip II, she brought with her a group of French instrumental musicians who wished to stay in the Spanish court; Fuenllana alternated with this group and his musical works were performed together with those of foreign artists. At the death of the queen in 1568 he continued serving in the Spanish court. He died in Valladolid
.
s of the third volume. The book includes 52 fantasia
s newly composed by Fuenllanas alongside works of 17 other composers. His style is polyphonic with a texture similar to that of Cristobal de Morales
. This work also contains arrangements of vocal pieces by Josquin, Morales, Francisco Guerrero
, and Philippe Verdelot
, musicians from both Spain and the Low Countries
. Fuenllana preferred the voice accompanied by vihuela to the vihuela solo. The vocal parts are written in red tint at the points where the music is to be performed most seriously.
The merits of Fuenllana's work were known to his contemporaries; in the Declaración de instrumentos of Fray Juan Bermudo, he writes:
Fuenllana was adept at finding apt harmonies and counterpoint
to popular melodies: some of these traditional pieces are De los alamos vengo, madre, used by Lope de Vega
; Morenica, dame, Con que la lavare, De Antequera sale el moro, and the romance of the loss of Antequera; thus, he presaged the coming of the accompanied melody of the Italians at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Vihuela
Vihuela is a name given to two different guitar-like string instruments: one from 15th and 16th century Spain, usually with 12 paired strings, and the other, the Mexican vihuela, from 19th century Mexico with five strings and typically played in Mariachi bands.-History:The vihuela, as it was known...
and composer 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...
.
Biography
Little is known of his life. It is assumed from his name that his roots lie in the municipality of FuenllanaFuenllana
Fuenllana is a municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 320.Fuenllana was called Laminium during Roman times, incorporated into Roman territory after the subjugation of the Carpetani.- References :...
, in the province of Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real is a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, with a population of c. 74,000. It is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles to the north. A high capacity...
, although he was born in Navalcarnero
Navalcarnero
Navalcarnero is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located about 31 km from Madrid.Sights include the church of Inmaculada Concepción.-History:...
, 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...
. Blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
from birth, he composed a Libro de música para vihuela intitulado Orphenica Lyra (Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, 1554), dedicated to Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
. At the arrival of Isabel de Valois, third wife of Philip II, she brought with her a group of French instrumental musicians who wished to stay in the Spanish court; Fuenllana alternated with this group and his musical works were performed together with those of foreign artists. At the death of the queen in 1568 he continued serving in the Spanish court. He died in Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
.
Works
Orphénica Lyra comprises 188 pieces in six volumes. In the first three the pieces are ordered ascending by number of voices, passing through 2 and 3 in the first to 5 and 6 in the motetMotet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s of the third volume. The book includes 52 fantasia
Fantasia (music)
The fantasia is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form ....
s newly composed by Fuenllanas alongside works of 17 other composers. His style is polyphonic with a texture similar to that of Cristobal 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 :...
. This work also contains arrangements of vocal pieces by Josquin, Morales, Francisco Guerrero
Francisco Guerrero
Francisco Guerrero was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He was born and died in Seville.Guerrero's early musical education was with his older brother Pedro. He must have been an astonishing prodigy, for at the age of 17 he was already appointed maestro de capilla at Jaén Cathedral...
, and Philippe Verdelot
Philippe Verdelot
Philippe Verdelot was a French composer of the Renaissance, who spent most of his life in Italy. He is commonly considered to be the father of the Italian madrigal, and certainly was one of its earliest and most prolific composers; in addition he was prominent in the musical life of Florence...
, musicians from both Spain and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. Fuenllana preferred the voice accompanied by vihuela to the vihuela solo. The vocal parts are written in red tint at the points where the music is to be performed most seriously.
The merits of Fuenllana's work were known to his contemporaries; in the Declaración de instrumentos of Fray Juan Bermudo, he writes:
Fuenllana was adept at finding apt harmonies and counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
to popular melodies: some of these traditional pieces are De los alamos vengo, madre, used by Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega
Félix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
; Morenica, dame, Con que la lavare, De Antequera sale el moro, and the romance of the loss of Antequera; thus, he presaged the coming of the accompanied melody of the Italians at the beginning of the seventeenth century.