Cristóbal de Morales
Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500 – between 4 September and 7 October 1553) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Tomás Luis de Victoria.[citation needed]
Life
Cristóbal de Morales was born in
Earlier Spanish popes of the
Morales’s fame was due in part to the numerous testimonials of those around him. The Spanish theorist Juan Bermudo declared him “the light of Spain in music”, while in 1559, a Mexican choir – Spanish polyphony in particular was quick to reach the New World – sang his music at a service commemorating the death of Charles V the previous year. This fame continued into the 18th century when Andrea Adami da Bolsena, biographer of many papal musicians, praised him as the papal chapel’s most important composer between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina.
There is recurrent evidence that he was a difficult character, aware of his exceptional talent, and probably came across as arrogant and incapable of getting along with those of lesser musical abilities. He made severe demands on the singers in his employ and alienated employers. In spite of this, he was regarded as one of the finest composers in Europe around the middle of the 16th century.[1]
On 4 September 1553 he asked to be considered for the position of maestro de capilla at the
Music and influence
Almost all of his music is sacred, and all of it is vocal, though instruments may have been used in an accompanying role in performance. He wrote many
Morales was the first Spanish composer of international renown. His works were widely distributed in Europe, and many copies made the journey to the New World. Many music writers and theorists in the hundred years after his death considered his music to be among the most perfect of the time.
Masses
Morales's masses, of which 22 survive, use a variety of techniques, including cantus firmus and parody. Six masses are based on Gregorian chant, and these are mostly written in a conservative cantus-firmus style. Eight of his masses use the parody technique, including one for six voices based on the famous chanson Mille regretz, attributed to Josquin des Prez. The melody is arranged so that it is clearly audible in every movement, usually in the highest voice, giving the work considerable stylistic and motivic unity. Morales also wrote two masses on the famous L'homme armé tune, which was so often set by composers in the late 15th century and 16th century; one of these is for four voices, and the other for five. The four voice mass uses the tune as a strict cantus firmus, and the setting for five voices treats it more freely, migrating it from one voice to another.[2]
In addition, he wrote a Missa pro defunctis (a
Works
- 22 masses
- Missarum Liber primus (Rome, 1544)
- Missa Aspice Domine 4v
- Missa Ave Maris Stella 4v
- Missa De Beata Virgine 4v
- Missa L'homme armé 5v
- Missa Mille Regretz6v
- Missa Quaeramus cum pastoribus 5v
- Missa Si bona suscepimus 6v
- Missa Vulnerasti cor meum 4v
- Missarum Liber secundus (Rome, 1544)
- Missa Benedicta est regina caelorum [= Missa Valenciana] 4v
- Missa De Beata Virgine 5v
- Missa Gaude Barbara 4v
- Missa L’homme armée 4v
- Missa Pro defunctis 5v
- Missa Quem dicunt homines 5v
- Missa Tu es vas electionis 4v
- Others:
- Missa Caça
- Missa Cortilla
- Missa Desilde al cavallero 4v
- Missa Super Ut re mi fa sol la 4v
- Missa Tristezas me matan 5v
- Officium defunctorum 4v (ca. 1526–28)
- Missarum Liber primus (Rome, 1544)
- 18 settings of the Magnificat
- 5 Lamentations of Jeremiah
- over 100 motets
Recordings
- Cristóbal de Morales, Messe Mille Regretz. Victor Alonso, Concert de les Arts. CD Accord 204662.
- Cristóbal de Morales, Missa de Beata Virgine (a5). Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe. The V. Sessions, 2009.
- Cristóbal de Morales, Missa de Beata Virgine. Ensemble Jachet de Mantoue. CD Calliope 9363.
- Cristóbal de Morales, Missa mille regretz. Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players. CD Archiv 474 228-2.
- Cristóbal de Morales, Missa Si bona suscepimus. The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips. Gimell CDGIM 033.
- Cristóbal de Morales, Missa Vulnerasti cor meum. – Canticum Canticorum. Orchestra of the Renaissance, Richard Cheetham, Michael Noone. Glossa cabinet GCD C81403.
- Cristóbal de Morales, Morales en Toledo. Michael Noone, Ensemble Plus Ultra. GCD 922001
- Cristóbal de Morales, Office des Ténèbres. Denis Raisin-Dadre, Doulce Mémoire. Naïve E 8878
Office of the Dead/Requiem
- Cristóbal de Morales, Officium (Parce mihi Domine). Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble. ECM 1525
The 'Parce mihi Domine' from his
- Cristóbal de Morales, Morales: Requiem. Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort. CD Archiv 457 597-2
- Cristóbal de Morales, Officium defunctorum, Missa pro Defunctis. La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XX, Jordi Savall. Naive ES 9926.
Notes
References
- Blanche Gangwere, Music History During the Renaissance Period, 1520–1550. Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publishers. 2004.
- Robert Stevenson/Alejandro Planchart: Cristóbal Morales, Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 9, 2006), (subscription access) Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Article "Cristóbal de Morales," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- Stevenson, Robert M. Cristóbal de Morales (ca. 1500-1553): Light of Spain in Music. "Inter-American Music Review" 13/2 (Spring-Summer 1993): 1–105.
- ISBN 0-393-09530-4
- Atlas, Allan W. Renaissance music: music in Western Europe, 1400-1600. New York, N.Y. W.W. Norton and Company, 1998.
- G. Edward Bruner, DMA: Editions and Analysis of Five Missa Beata Virgine Maria by the Spanish Composers: Morales, Guerrero, Victoria, Vivanco, and Esquivel. DMA diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1980. Facsimile: University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
External links
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- Free scores by Cristóbal de Morales at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Free scores by Cristóbal de Morales in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Maestros del Siglo de Oro, Morales, Guerrero, Victoria, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XX, dir. Jordi Savall, Alia Vox AVSA9867
- Morales Mass Book (CC-BY-NC, 2017)