Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla (ca. 15901664) was a Renaissance-style Spanish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, most of whose career took place in Mexico.

Life and career

He was born in Málaga, Spain. He moved to

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, in 1620. At the time

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

was a

viceroyalty A viceroyalty was an entity headed by a viceroy. It dates back to the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century. France * Viceroyalty of New France Portuguese Empire In the scope of the Portuguese Empire, the term " Viceroyalt ...

of Spain that included modern day

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and other parts of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

the Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Padilla is one of the more important composers represented in the manuscripts at Puebla, Mexico and the Hackenberry collection in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He worked at

de Los Angeles, Mexico, which in the 17th century was a bigger religious center than

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

itself. He was appointed ''maestro de capilla'' of

Puebla Cathedral The Basilica Cathedral of Puebla, as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is known according to its Marian invocation, is the episcopal see of the Archdiocese of Puebla de los Ángeles (Mexico). It is one of the most importan ...

in 1628. The Mexican composer

Juan García de Zéspedes Juan García de Zéspedes (ca. 1619 – 5 August 1678) was a Mexican composer, singer, viol player, and teacher. Biography He is thought to have been born in Puebla (Puebla), Puebla, Mexico. As a boy he was a soprano in the choir at Puebla C ...

was a boy soprano in the cathedral choir under Padilla, and later succeeded him to the office of ''maestro'' in 1664. He is to be distinguished from a younger Juan de Padilla, who was ''maestro de capilla'' at

Zamora, Spain Zamora () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital of the province of Zamora. The city straddles the Duero river. With its 24 characteristic Romanesque style churches of the ...

(1661-1663), and Toledo (1663-1673).

Works

The majority of his vast output (over 700 pieces survive) include sacred

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Ma ...

s, often for double choir, in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

style or ''stile antico'' as well as sacred '' villancicos.'' It often includes accompaniments for

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

or various stringed instruments.

Bibliography

Padilla's music is rather difficult to get hold of: ''Mapa Mundi'', publish singing scores of some of this music including the double choir piece ''Deus in Adiutorium Meum Intende.'' Alfredston Music can provide instrumental parts for the smaller pieces in their collection. There are at least 2 Ph.D. theses with Padilla's music in the appendices: S. Barwick, ''Sacred Vocal Polyphony in Early Colonial Mexico'', (diss., Harvard Univ., 1949), includes the 2nd ''St. Matthew Passion''; and A. Ray / A. R. Catalyne, ''The Double-choir Music of Juan de Padilla'', (diss., Univ. of Southern California, 1953).

Recordings

*Mirabilia testimonium. Lamentation for Maundy Thursday. Salve Regina on ''Masterpieces of Mexican Polyphony''

Westminster Cathedral Choir Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of ...

dir. James O'Donnell. Hyperion CDA66330 1989 *Lamentation for Maundy Thursday on ''Lamentations of Jeremiah'' by The Tallis Scholars, dir. Peter Phillips. Gimell CDGIM 043 2010 *''Missa Ego Flos Campi,'' along with a number of secular works have been recorded by The Harp Consort, conducted by

Andrew Lawrence-King Andrew Lawrence-King (born 3 September 1959) is a harpist and conductor from Guernsey known for his work in early music. Career Lawrence-King received an organ scholarship to Selwyn College, Cambridge, following on his work as head chorister at t ...

, on the disc '' Missa Mexicana'' 003 Benjamín Juárez Echenique has recorded a Mass and two sets of Christmas ''

villancicos The ''villancico'' ( Spanish, ) or vilancete ( Portuguese, ) was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. Important composers of villancicos were Juan del Encina, P ...

'' for Urtext digital classics: *Padilla; Maitines de Natividad 1652 (Mexican Baroque, Vol. 7) Angelicum de Puebla, dir. Echenique Urtext UMA2011 46'07" *Padilla; Maitines de Natividad 1653 (Baroque Mexico, Vol. 1) Angelicum de Puebla, dir. Echenique Urtext UMA2004 *Padilla; ''Missa Ego flos campi'' (excerpts) 1653 (Baroque Mexico, Vol. 3) Angelicum de Puebla, dir. Echenique Urtext UMA2005 1996 *Padilla; "Streams of Tears". Missa Ave Regina and motets. The Sixteen,

Harry Christophers Richard Henry Tudor "Harry" Christophers CBE FRSCM (born 26 December 1953) is an English conductor. Life and career Richard Henry Tudor Christophers was born in Goudhurst, Kent. He was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under choirmaster Al ...

COR16059

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez de Padilla, Juan Spanish Baroque composers Mexican male classical composers Mexican classical composers Spanish male classical composers 1590s births 1664 deaths History of Puebla People from Málaga People from Puebla 17th-century classical composers 17th-century Mexican people 17th-century male musicians