Personally, I love to listen to spanish polyphonic music from the Renaissance on days like this: Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Tomás Luis de Victoria. All of them great composers whose sonorities, heard from today, can throw you directly into the past and connect you with some part of yourself which appeared forgotten. Gutiérrez de Padilla was not that well-known, maybe. Maybe it was because he left to Mexico, territory of what was then known as New Spain, when he was 32. There, he developed his career as maestro in the Puebla cathedral, composing masses, motets, psalms, responsories, hymns, a litany and even a St. Matthew Passion, works that make him equal of any peninsular composer of his age in both talent and technique, according to scholars. Apart from this Latin sacred music, he wrote numerous vernacular villancicos, intended for the large and enthusiastic crowds attracted to services at Puebla cathedral, in which he included examples of musical styles popular among working-class people from various ethnic backgrounds. As Michael Ende used to say, but that is another story and shall be told another time.
viernes, 6 de abril de 2012
Lamentaciones de Jueves Santo
Today is Maundy Thursday, Jueves Santo, as we say. This week, there are lots and lots of processions going on every day, even though this year the rain (again) has prevented some of them. Anyway, today I won't write an analysis of the processions, how you should or should not feel toward them. I preffer to think in these days as a chance to revive spirituality, in any form that you preffer. Christianism has impregnated our society and our culture, and specially our art, so I will take advantage of this chance to remember the huge amount of wonderful sacred music that has been written in the course of the centuries. Particularly, today I discovered a piece especially written for this day: Lamentaciones de Jueves Santo, by Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, a composer born in Málaga (Andalusia, Spain) at the end of the XVI century.
Personally, I love to listen to spanish polyphonic music from the Renaissance on days like this: Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Tomás Luis de Victoria. All of them great composers whose sonorities, heard from today, can throw you directly into the past and connect you with some part of yourself which appeared forgotten. Gutiérrez de Padilla was not that well-known, maybe. Maybe it was because he left to Mexico, territory of what was then known as New Spain, when he was 32. There, he developed his career as maestro in the Puebla cathedral, composing masses, motets, psalms, responsories, hymns, a litany and even a St. Matthew Passion, works that make him equal of any peninsular composer of his age in both talent and technique, according to scholars. Apart from this Latin sacred music, he wrote numerous vernacular villancicos, intended for the large and enthusiastic crowds attracted to services at Puebla cathedral, in which he included examples of musical styles popular among working-class people from various ethnic backgrounds. As Michael Ende used to say, but that is another story and shall be told another time.
Let's go back to the piece I wanted to share with you, the Lamentations for Maundy Thursday. In my case, I like to close my eyes and mesmerize. This feeling can take you inwards, something that, with the appropiate attitude of mind, can be a transcendent experience that only art can lead you to. Enjoy.
Personally, I love to listen to spanish polyphonic music from the Renaissance on days like this: Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Tomás Luis de Victoria. All of them great composers whose sonorities, heard from today, can throw you directly into the past and connect you with some part of yourself which appeared forgotten. Gutiérrez de Padilla was not that well-known, maybe. Maybe it was because he left to Mexico, territory of what was then known as New Spain, when he was 32. There, he developed his career as maestro in the Puebla cathedral, composing masses, motets, psalms, responsories, hymns, a litany and even a St. Matthew Passion, works that make him equal of any peninsular composer of his age in both talent and technique, according to scholars. Apart from this Latin sacred music, he wrote numerous vernacular villancicos, intended for the large and enthusiastic crowds attracted to services at Puebla cathedral, in which he included examples of musical styles popular among working-class people from various ethnic backgrounds. As Michael Ende used to say, but that is another story and shall be told another time.
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