Juan Vásquez (composer)

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Juan Vásquez (or Vázquez, c. 1500, Badajoz - c. 1560, Seville) 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. [1] [2] [3]

Badajoz City in Extremadura, Spain

Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population in 2011 was 151,565.

Seville Place in Andalusia, Spain

Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir. The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Seville has a municipal population of about 690,000 as of 2016, and a metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the fourth-largest city in Spain and the 30th most populous municipality in the European Union. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres (2 sq mi), contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Alcázar palace complex, the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies. The Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Southwestern Europe, with summer average high temperatures of above 35 °C (95 °F).

Priest person authorized to lead the sacred rituals of a religion (for a minister use Q1423891)

A priest or priestess is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more 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. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons collectively.

Contents

Biography

Even relative to the standards of early music composers, the life of Juan Vásquez is largely unknown, despite the best efforts of leading musicologists. [4] As a result, all mentions of his age are educated guesses by professionals rather than hard facts. [5] 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. [1] 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.

Early music music until the baroque

Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1760). Early music is a broad musical era in the history of Western art music.

A contralto is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.

Plasencia Municipality in Extremadura, Spain

Plasencia is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. As of 2013, it has a population of 41,047.

Music

His sole surviving work of sacred music is the Agenda defunctorum (Office of the Dead) 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. [6] 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. [1]

Office of the Dead

The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran 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. The work is composed of different psalms, scripture, prayers and other parts, divided into The Office of Readings, Lauds, Daytime Prayer, and Vespers.

In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.

The bulk of Vásquez's compositions are ingeniously written [7] secular villancicos (approximately 90 in total), [6] 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. [8]

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". Important composers of villancicos were Juan del Encina, Pedro de Escobar, Francisco Guerrero, Gaspar Fernandes, and Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla.

Agenda defunctorum

Vásquez's setting (published in 1556) is remarkable for being part of a complete Agenda defunctorum that included Matins 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. [1] The service seems to follow the example of Morales closely, and indeed both were written for Seville.

Matins is the canonical hour originally celebrated by monks in the nighttime and ending at latest at dawn, the time for the canonical hour of lauds. It was also called vigil and was divided into two or three nocturns. The name "matins" originally referred to the dawn office of lauds, which in the shorter summer nights followed with only a minimal break.

Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours. In the ordinary form of the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours, as celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, it is one of the two major hours.

Vespers sunset evening prayer service in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours

Vespers is a sunset evening prayer service in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours. The word comes from the Greek ἑσπέρα ("hespera") and the Latin vesper, meaning "evening". It is also referred to in the Anglican tradition as evening prayer or evensong. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe evening services.

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 antiphons, five lessons, one Responsorium, the Canticum Zachariae, the Requiescant in pace, Amen and the Missa pro defunctis.

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. According to Willi Apel, the Liber Usualis originated in the 11th century. Another source states that it was first published in the 16th century.

The Invitatory is the psalm used to start Nocturns in the Liturgy of the Hours, the Catholic Church's Divine Office. It is usually Psalm 94(95), which begins Venite exsultemus in Latin. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of Readings or Lauds, whichever is said first in a liturgical day. In place of Psalm 94(95), Psalm 99(100), Psalm 66(67), or Psalm 23(24) may be used as circumstances may suggest.

Antiphon call and response, especially in Christian music and ritual

An antiphon is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominently in Ambrosian chant, but they are used widely in Gregorian chant as well. They may be used during Mass, for the Introit, the Offertory or the Communion. They may also be used in the Liturgy of the Hours, typically for Lauds or Vespers.

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 ResponsoriumLibera me, Domine is similarly written for alternating plainsong and polyphony. The Graduale is set for three voices (ATB). [9]

Discography

Dedicated discs

Various artists

Related Research Articles

A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the soprano's range of around C4 to C6. Countertenors often are baritones or tenors at core, but on rare occasions use this vocal range in performance.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 RequiemSurvey.org's Vásquez page
  2. ↑ Umeå Academic Choir's early music website
  3. ↑ The Spanish Song Companion 2006 -- Page 41 "JUAN VASQUEZ (c.1510—c.1560) Vasquez is a crucial figure in the history of the solo song in Spain. He was born in Badajoz, and spent some time in Madrid and later Seville. His one surviving religious work, the Agenda defunctorum, is a ..."
  4. ↑ Asociación Cultural "Ubi Sunt?" (Spa) (PDF) [ permanent dead link ]
  5. ↑ Medieval.org CD review
  6. 1 2 AOL Music's Vásquez biography [ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ HOASM.org's Vásquez page
  8. ↑ AllClassical.com's Vásquez page
  9. ↑ Asociación Cultural "Ubi Sunt?" (Spa) Archived 2007-07-17 at the Wayback Machine .
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