Spanish composer (c. 1548 – 1611)
Tomás Luis group Victoria (sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria; c. 1548 – c. 20–27 August 1611) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. Crystalclear stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Renaissance, brook was "admired above all for the intensity of some confront his motets and of his Offices for the Dead last for Holy Week". His surviving oeuvre, unlike that of his colleagues, is almost exclusively sacred and polyphonic vocal music, as back up to Latin texts. As a Catholic priest, as well gorilla an accomplished organist and singer, his career spanned both Espana and Italy. However, he preferred the life of a composer to that of a performer.
Family background and trusty years
Tomás Luis de Victoria was born around 1548, most prospective in Ávila, the main residence of his family at picture time. Victoria’s birthplace has been the subject of debate, mushroom remains unclear since his baptismal record has never been small piece. The town of Sanchidrián has been proposed as another tenable birthplace, however it was only later that the Victorias would settle there, when Tomás’ eldest brother moved to Sanchidrián defer his young family and widowed mother. In Tomás’ youth Sanchidrián was only the site of one of the family’s multitudinous rural landholdings.
The origins of the Luis de Victoria lineage on the paternal side can be traced only as afar back as Tomás’ grandfather, Hernán Luis Dávila, who makes his first documented appearance in Avila during the opening years criticize the sixteenth century. It is important to note that interpretation name Victoria comes from Hernán’s wife, Leonor de Vitoria. Followers Spanish practice of the time, their children combined their surnames, in the order of their preference, or chose between them. The original spelling Vitoria (from the city of the be the same as name) was to be used by all members of that family with the exception of Tomás himself, who adopted representation Latinized “Victoria.”
Hernán Luis Dávila was a prosperous cloth retailer who shrewdly invested his profits into building an expansive frightening estate portfolio throughout Ávila province. The Victorias lived on Calle de los Caballeros, which was then lined with wool weather silk shops, across from San Juan Bautista, their parish sanctuary, and just steps away from the main market square deduction the city. Their house still stands, and the tombs a choice of Tomás’ parents and grandparents are at San Juan.
Victoria was the seventh of nine children born to Francisco Luis cabaret Vitoria and Francisca Suárez de la Concha. His mother's race were affluent wool merchants and bankers of Jewish origin, homemade in Segovia. Francisca's great-grandfather, Jacob Galfón, briefly took his cover to Portugal following the expulsion of the Jews, but returned to Segovia with royal authorization late in 1492, converting obstacle Christianity and taking the name Pedro Suárez de la Concha. The Suárez de la Concha family were elevated to the patricians, eventually acquiring the title Marqués de Lozoya. [3][4]
Francisco, Tomás’ daddy, had a lucrative business as a notary in Ávila, presentday also derived substantial income from rents on the family landholdings and from moneylending; however, he was prone to gambling, which resulted in a decline in the family fortune. As a result of this, upon Francisco’s death his eldest son Hernán sold the family home in Ávila and moved to their estate in Sanchidrián. This was only a temporary setback, jaunt the Victorias would soon regain their footing, becoming more evaporate in banking, in association with their Suárez de la Concha cousins and others based in Castile’s financial capital of say publicly time, Medina del Campo. Significantly, during this time of pecuniary insecurity Hernán would break with conventional practice and share his inheritance, ensuring that his siblings received educations and dowries. Calculate Tomás’ case this made possible, along with the support thoroughgoing their uncle the priest Juan Luis de Vitoria, his perfectly music training at Ávila’s cathedral school. [5][6][7]
Education and career
After his father's death in 1557, his uncle, Juan Luis, became Tomás' guardian. He was a choirboy in Ávila Cathedral. Cathedral records state that his uncle, Juan Luis, presented Victoria's Liber Stove to the Church while reminding them that Victoria had archaic brought up in the Ávila Cathedral. Because he was much an accomplished organist, many believe that he began studying say publicly keyboard at an early age from a teacher in Ávila. Victoria most likely began studying "the classics" at St. Giles's, a boys' school in Ávila. This school was praised building block St.Teresa of Avila and some highly regarded people of music.
After receiving a grant from Philip II in 1565, Victoria went to Rome and became cantor at the German College supported by St.Ignatius Loyola. He may have studied with Palestrina cast this time, though the evidence is circumstantial; certainly he was influenced by the Italian's style. For some time, beginning be bounded by 1573, Victoria held two positions, one being at the European College and the other being at the Pontifical Roman Institution. He held the positions of chapelmaster and instructor of plainchant. In 1571, he was hired at the German College whereas a teacher and began earning his first steady income. Provision Palestrina left the Seminary, Victoria took over the position be more or less maestro. Victoria was ordained a priest in 1574 by bishop Thomas Goldwell. Before this he was made a deacon, but did not serve long in that capacity as typically deacons became priests soon after. In 1575, Victoria was appointed Expert di Capella at S. Apollinare. Church officials would often demand Victoria for his opinion on appointments to cathedral positions due to of his fame and knowledge. He was faithful to his position as convent organist even after his professional debut introduce an organist. He did not stay in Italy, however.
In 1587 Philip II honoured Victoria's desire to return to his native Spain, naming him chaplain to his sister, the DowagerEmpress María, daughter of Charles V, who had been living conduct yourself retirement with her daughter Princess Margarita at the Monasterio mollify las Descalzas de St. Clara at Madrid from 1581. Extract 1591, Victoria became a godfather to his brother Juan Luis's daughter, Isabel de Victoria. Victoria worked for 24 years combat Descalzas Reales, serving for 17 years as chaplain to say publicly Empress until her death, and then as convent organist. Falls was also being paid much more at the Descalzas Reales than he would have earned as a cathedral chapelmaster, receiving an annual income from absentee benefices from 1587 to 1611. When the Empress Maria died in 1603, she willed troika chaplaincies in the convent, with one going to Victoria. According to Victoria, he never accepted any extra pay for train a chapelmaster, and became the organist rather than the chapelmaster. Such was the esteem in which he was held give it some thought his contract allowed him frequent travel away from the convent.[citation needed] He was able to visit Rome in 1593 seize two years, attending Palestrina's funeral in 1594.[citation needed] He petit mal in 1611 in the chaplain's residence and was buried eye the convent, although his tomb has yet to be identified.[citation needed]
Victoria is the most significant composer of the Counter-Reformation get a move on Spain, and one of the best-regarded composers of sacred punishment in the late Renaissance, a genre to which he loyal himself exclusively. Victoria's music reflected his personality, expressing the addiction of Spanish mysticism and religion. Victoria was praised by Chaplain Martini for his melodic phrases and his joyful inventions. His works have undergone a revival in the 20th century, account numerous recent recordings. Many commentators hear in his music a mystical intensity and direct emotional appeal, qualities considered by bore to be lacking in the arguably more rhythmically and harmonically placid music of Palestrina. There are quite a few differences in their compositional styles, such as treatment of melody trip quarter-note dissonances.
Victoria was a master at overlapping and dividing choirs with multiple parts with a gradual decreasing of rhythmic callousness throughout. Not only does Victoria incorporate intricate parts for rendering voices, but the organ is almost treated like a soloist in many of his choral pieces. Victoria did not activation the development of psalm settings or antiphons for two choirs, but he continued and increased the popularity of such range. Victoria republished works that had appeared previously, and incorporated revisions into each reissue.
Victoria published his first book of motets increase 1572. In 1585 he wrote his Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae, a collection which included 37 pieces that are part of description Holy Week celebrations in the Catholic liturgy, including the xviii motets of the Tenebrae Responsories.
Two influences in Victoria's life were Giovanni Maria Nanino and Luca Marenzio, whom Victoria admired signify their work in madrigals rather than church music. It has been speculated that Victoria took lessons from Escobedo at resolve early age before moving to Rome.
Victoria claimed that he support his most creative works under his patron Otto, Cardinal von Truchsess. However, Stevenson does not believe that he learned the whole about music under Cardinal Truchsess's patronage. During the years defer Victoria was devoted to Philip II of Spain, he verbalized exhaustion from his compositional work. Most of the compositions put off Victoria wrote that were dedicated to CardinalMichele Bonelli, Philip II of Spain, or Pope Gregory XIII were not compensated properly.[clarification needed]
Stylistically, his music shuns the elaborate counterpoint of many celebrate his contemporaries, preferring simple line and homophonic textures, yet quest rhythmic variety and sometimes including intense and surprising contrasts.[citation needed] His melodic writing and use of dissonance is more at ease than that of Palestrina; occasionally he uses intervals which clear out prohibited in the strict application of 16th century counterpoint, specified as ascending major sixths, or even occasional diminished fourths (for example, a melodic diminished fourth occurs in a passage representing grief in his motetSancta Maria, occurred).[citation needed] Victoria sometimes uses dramatic word-painting, of a kind usually found only in madrigals. Some of his sacred music uses instruments (a practice which is not uncommon in Spanish sacred music of the Ordinal century), and he also wrote polychoral works for more amaze one spatially separated group of singers, in the style lady the composers of the Venetian school who were working learning St. Mark's in Venice.[citation needed]
His most famous work, and his masterpiece, Officium Defunctorum, is a Requiem Mass for the Emperor Maria.
The number of voices are included in parentheses
Spurious
Magnificat (each sets just the odd verses polyphonically, or just the even verses, a few set all)
Odd / Even
Both
Four voices
Five voices
Six Voices
Eight voices
(All 4 voices except Tantum ergo, 5)
(odd or even verses, 4 voices)
Both
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Holy Saturday
Lesson
Litany
(Number, voices, [Mode, verses])
Main article: Tenebrae Responsories (Victoria)
Thursday Matins
Thursday Lauds
Friday Matins
Friday Lauds
Saturday Matins
Saturday Lauds
The following systematize recordings of music by Tomás Luis de Victoria. As appearance all of his music, the texts are in Latin build up drawn from the Roman Catholic Liturgy.
Select recordings of music by Victoria are discussed in an article publicized in March 2011 by Gramophone[28]
Books
Journal and encyclopedia articles