Who's Who Guitar Composers

Who's Who Wednesday Year Four Luis Milan Date of Birth: 1500 Place of Birth: Valencia, Spain Year of death: 1561 in Valencia, Spain Musical period: Renaissance Resident of which countries: Spain Schools Attended: Teachers: Outstanding Achievements: published the first book of music for vihuela Number of works for guitar: Method books?: Luis de Milán (also known as Lluís del Milà) (c. 1500 – 1561 or possibly later) was a Spanish Renaissance composer, vihuelist , and composer. He was the first composer in history to publish music for the vihuela de mano, an instrument employed primarily in the Iberian peninsula (Spain) and some of the Italian states during the fifteenth and six- teenth centuries, and he was also one of the first musicians to specify verbal tempo indications in his music. He probably lived all his life in Valencia, though details are sketchy at best. He seems to have been employed by the ducal court until around 1538. In 1535 he published his first book, a parlor game with music, entitled El juego de mandar; in the next year he published what was to be his most important book, Li- bro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro. This book was dedicated to King John III of Portugal; this dedication, and the existence of six villancicos which Milán wrote in Portuguese, suggest that he may have traveled to that country and spent some time there. The book is the first collection of vihuela music in history. It may have been intended as a book for students of the vihuela. The music is presented in grades from simple to complex, so that a beginning vihuelist can proceed from ele- mentary to gradually more complicated pieces as he learns. It contains more than forty fantasias, six pavans, twelve villancicos, as well as sonetos (settings of Italian son- nets), and other pieces; some of the pieces are for solo vihuela, and others for voice accompanied by vihuela. Many are of considerable virtuosity, though not all the orna- mentation is provided in detail. The style of the compositions varies from simple ho- mophony to polyphony and virtuoso passage-work; unusual chromaticism also occurs, including strange double-inflections which were quite rare in music from other parts of Europe at the same time. It appears that the book was prepared with great care; alter- nate passages are given for players who wish to avoid more virtuosic parts, sections of pieces are indicated as optional, and he provided verbal tempo indications, for exam- ple ni muy apriessa ni muy a espacio sino con un compás bien mesurado ("neither too quickly nor too slowly, but with a moderate measure"). Half of the villancicos are in Castilian Spanish, and half are in Portuguese. Page 1 Who's Who Wednesday Year Four John Dowland Date of Birth: 1563 Place of Birth: London, England Year of death: February 20, 1626 Musical period: Resident of which countries: Schools Attended: Teachers: Outstanding Achievements: Number of works for guitar: Method books?: Very little is known of Dowland's early life, but it is generally thought he was born in London. In 1580 Dowland went to Paris, where he was in service to Sir Henry Cob- ham, the ambassador to the French court, and his successor, Sir Edward Stafford. He became a Roman Catholic at this time. In 1594 a vacancy for a lutenist came up at the English court, but Dowland's application was unsuccessful - he claimed his religion led to his not being offered a post at Elizabeth I's Protestant court. However, his conver- sion was not publicized, and being Catholic did not prevent some other important musicians (such as William Byrd) from having a court career in England. In 1597 Dowland published his "First Book of Songs" in London. This collection of lute-songs was set out in a way that allows performance by a soloist with lute accompaniment or various com- binations of singers and instrumentalists. From 1598, Dowland worked at the court of Christian IV of Denmark, but he continued to publish in London. He returned to Eng- land in 1606 and in early 1612 secured a post as one of James I's lutenists. There are no compositions dating from the time of his royal appointment until his death in London in 1626. While the date of his burial is recorded, the exact date of his death is not known. Most of Dowland's music is for his own instrument, the lute. It includes several books of solo lute works, lute songs (for one voice and lute), part-songs with lute accompaniment, and several pieces for viol consort with lute. Dowland's music often dis- plays the melancholia that was so fashionable in music at that time. He wrote a consort piece with the punning title "Semper Dowland, semper dolens" (always Dowland, always doleful), which may be said to sum up much of his work. Page 2 Who's Who Wednesday Year Four Gasper Sanz Date of Birth: April 4, 1640 Place of Birth: Calanda, Spain Year of death: 1710 Madrid, Spain Musical period: Baroque Resident of which countries: Spain, Italy Schools Attended: University of Salamanca Teachers: Caresana, Colista, Benevoli and Ziani Outstanding Achievements: Number of works for guitar: 90 Method books?: 3 Volumes of Instruction It is generally accepted that composer Gaspar Sanz was born on April 4, 1640, in Calanda in the region of Aragon, Spain. As a young man, he received a bachelor of theology degree and subsequently took the vows of Holy Orders from the University of Salamanca. But the spirituality of music would become a second vocation for Sanz and he journeyed to Italy to study music with Cristofaro Caresana and Lelio Colista, as well as Orazio Benevoli and Pietro Andrea Ziani. Upon his return to Spain, he pursued literature, religion, and music in equal measure. His musical prowess soon came to loom over his other achievements, becoming widely re- garded as the foremost guitar theorist of his day. A complete musician, Sanz was also organist to the viceroy of Napoles. By the time Sanz began his work, the guitar in its evolution had acquired a fifth course (string pair) and settled into the fourths- oriented tuning that led to the modern six-string guitar as is known today, the octave pairing of the lower strings surviving in the modern 12-string guitar. Sanz took ad- vantage of these developments in the 90 pieces that comprise the three volumes of Instruccion. The result is of two-fold musical importance. First, the capabilities of the guitar, by this time achieving a status comparable to the lute as a serious instrument, were extended, moving away from the single-line melodic stretches punctu- ated by chords; although the said idiom may be found in the first volume, geared to- ward the novice, the subsequent volumes find writing for more active right-hand technique, independence of the thumb and fingers, and more varied and at times contrapuntal texture. All this is prefaced in the first volume by a tutorial, a manual for care of the instrument, and an essay on figured bass for the guitar. The music in the three volumes is written in tablature, although later arrangements for standard nota- tion have since been made. The second great significance of the Sanz set is that it contains many examples of Spanish folk songs and dances, exposing these to the world at large. Some, like the Zarabanda, feature an alternation of meters that pres- age the flamenco guitar idiom. A well-rounded and cosmopolitan musician for his time, as well as a prophet for an instrument that would one day rival the keyboard in popularity. Page 3 Who's Who Wednesday Year Four Robert de Visee Date of Birth: 1660 Place of Birth: Portuguese Year of death: 1725 Musical period: Renaissance/Baroque Resident of which countries: France Schools Attended: Teachers: Francesco Corbetta Outstanding Achievements: Number of works for guitar: Method books?: 2 guitar methods each with 12 suites Robert de Visée was a lutenist, guitarist, theorbist and viol player at the court of Louis XIV, as well as a singer, and composer for lute, theorbo and guitar. Robert de Visée's origin is unknown, although a Portuguese origin of his surname had been suggested. He was likely to have studied with Francesco Corbetta. About 1680 he became a chamber musician to Louis XIV, in which capacity he often performed at court. He is also mentioned in 1709 as a singer in the royal chamber, and in 1719 he was named "Guitar Master of the King.” This meant he was the guitar teacher of the king, who at the time, was only nine years of age. It was reported that de Visee also played the viol at court. De Visée wrote two books of guitar music which con- tained twelve suites between them: Livre de guitare dédié au roy (Paris, 1682) and Livre de piéces pour la guitare (Paris 1686). He composed many suites of pieces for theorbo and Baroque lute as well as a collection of ensemble pieces. Our earliest knowledge of de Visee is that he was called to entertain the Dauphin in 1682, as the Préface to his first published book (1682) confirms. He enjoyed a considerable repu- tation as a player of the guitar, the lute, the theorbo and the viola da gamba. The theorbo bad been 'imported' by Italian musicians and was used in Lully's ballets; to- gether with the guitar it gained in popularity as an accompanying instrument and in reinforcing the bass line of the continuo in chamber music, which the lute, then al- ready in decline, could not do.

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