Manuel José de Quirós (died 1765) was an 18th-century

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 H ...

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 Defi ...

Life

Born in Santiago de Guatemala, present day

Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque-influenced architec ...

, towards the end of the 17th century, Quirós had a religious education while pursuing his musical apprenticeship and reaching the level of a journeyman. Having taken

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

orders, he was put in charge of the Franciscan press, where he served until 1738, when he was appointed chapel master of the cathedral choir and orchestra. He served in this capacity for 27 years, until his death in 1765. As chapel master, he was in charge of the education of choir boys and apprentices, besides conducting the cathedral

liturgical music Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service (or Eucharist) and Evensong ...

. Among his pupils, the most outstanding was

Rafael Antonio Castellanos Rafael Antonio Castellanos (c. 1725–1791) was a Guatemalan classical composer. His style is that of the late Spanish baroque, pre-classical, and classical periods, with frequent reference to Guatemalan folk music idioms. Life From an early age, ...

. Quirós is the first musician in the New World to receive a critical review. On the occasion of the ceremonies that elevated the

Bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of Guatemala to the rank of an

Archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, Quirós provided liturgical music during the nine days of celebration in November, 1745. Writer Antonio de Paz y Salgado, a high official in the Spanish colonial government, published his enthusiastic review of these musical performances two years later in

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 ...

. A considerable number of Quirós' works are contained in the archive at

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Works

Besides arranging a sizable amount of music sent from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, and

, Quirós also provided a number of original

villancico 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, Pedro ...

s, sacred songs, and

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of t ...

for

matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated by ...

of different feasts of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

year: * ''Cándidos cisnes'', solo voice, continuo * ''Oigan una xacarilla'', solo voice, continuo
''Una escuela de muchachos''
4 voices, horns, violins and continuo * ''Venid, venid a las aras de Dios y de Juan'', solo voice, continuo * ''Yo la tengo de cantar'', solo voice, continuo * ''Cantad, gilguerillos'', 2 treble voices, continuo * ''Clarines suaves'', 2 treble voices, continuo * ''Jesús, Jesús, y lo que subes'' (1743), 2 treble voices, continuo * ''Hoy que en las sacras aras'', 2 voices, continuo * ''Oh admirable sacramento'', 2 voices, continuo * ''Vagelillo que al viento'', 2 voices, 2 violins, continuo * ''Ay niña bella'', 2 voices, continuo * ''Joseph Antonio, tus dos nombres'', 2 voices, continuo * ''Oigan los triunfos de Domingo Santo'', 2 voices, continuo * ''Qué bien'', chorus, continuo * ''Ay Jesús'', chorus, continuo * ''A el pan de los cielos den adoraciones'', chorus, continuo * ''Lucid fragante rosa'', chorus, continuo (1741) * ''Un hombre Dios'', 4 voices, continuo * ''Luz a luz, y gracia a gracia'' * ''El baratillo'' (1758) ;Liturgical works on Latin texts * ''Cor mundum'', voice, two violins, continuo * ''Liberame'', voice, two violins, continuo * ''Auditi meo'', two choirs, continuo * ''Ne recorderis'', chorus, continuo * ''Iod manum suam'', solo voice, continuo * ''Parce mihi Domine'', two choirs, continuo * ''Laudate pueri Dominum'', SATB chorus, 2 violins, continuo * ''Sanctus Deus'' (1760), chorus, continuo ;''Negrillos'' * ''Digo a Siola Negla'' (1736) * ''Pues que de pascuas estamos'' (1745) * ''Amotinados los negros'' * ''Jesuclisa Magdalena'' (1745) * ''Vengo turo flanciquillo'' (1746)

References

Dieter Lehnhoff Dieter Lehnhoff Temme (born 27 May 1955) is a German-Guatemalan composer, conductor, and musicologist. Life Dieter Lehnhoff Temme was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala to German settlers in 1955. He has been a pupil of Klaus Ager, Gerhard Wim ...

, ''Creación musical en Guatemala''. Guatemala City: Editorial Galería Guatemala, 2005, pp. 69–8

* Alfred E. Lemmon, ''Music from Eighteenth-Century Guatemala''. South Woodstock, Vermont: Plumsock Mesoamerican Studies, 1984. * Robert M. Stevenson, "Guatemala Cathedral to 1803." ''Inter-American Music Review'' II/2 (Spring-Summer 1980):27-72.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quiros, Manuel Jose De People from Sacatepéquez Department Male composers Guatemalan Baroque composers Classical composers of church music Guatemalan Franciscans Year of birth unknown 1765 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians Male classical composers