Pedro de Lagarto (born circa 1465; died 1543 in Toledo) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

singer and composer of 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 ideas ...

period. Almost nothing is known about his early years, but a document dated 1537 affirms that he had been in the service of the

Toledo Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...

for 62 years. This suggests that he entered the cathedral in 1475 as a choirboy. In June 1490 he became master of the choirboys (''claustrero''), replacing Juan de Triana in the post. In 1495 he succeeded in obtaining a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

as a singer in open contest; according to the rules, the winner would be the "most accomplished and fluent singer" among the contestants, and highly trained in polyphonic composition. In 1507 he was seriously ill and does not seem to have resumed his duties as claustrero after this time. He held at least two

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

cies at the cathedral and between 1530 and 1534 was ''maestro de ceremonias''. By 1537, being deaf and blind, he asked to be relieved of his duties as chaplain; he died towards the end of 1543.

Works

The only works by Lagarto that survived to our days were the ones included in one or more

cancionero A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings o ...

s of his time. Four works have been explicitly attributed to him in the

Cancionero Musical de Palacio The Cancionero de Palacio (Madrid, Biblioteca Real, MS II–1335), or Cancionero Musical de Palacio (CMP), also known as Cancionero de Barbieri, is a Spanish manuscript of Renaissance music. The works in it were compiled during a time span of arou ...

: (: *''Andad, pasiones, andad'' -

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 ...

for 3vv *''Callen todas las galanas'' - villancico for 3vv *''D'aquel fraire flaco'' - villancico for 4vv *''Quéxome de ti, ventura'' -

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

for 3vv The villancicos draw on different themes: ''Andad, pasiones, andad'' is a love song also included in the

Cancionero de la Colombina The Cancionero de la Colombina or Cancionero Musical de la Colombina (CMC) is a Spanish manuscript (Ms. 7-1-28) containing Renaissance music from the second half of the 15th century.DIAMM - SourceE-Sc Ms. 7-1-28/ref> The manuscript was copied durin ...

and in the Cancionero de Segovia; ''Callen todas las galanas'' compares the women of Toledo and

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

; and ''D'aquel fraire flaco'' is an anticlerical satire. The romance, ''Quéxome de ti, ventura'', is a lament against the twists of Fortune. No sacred works in Latin have survived.

Bibliography

*H. Anglès, ed.: La música en la corte de los reyes católicos: Cancionero musical de palacio (1947–51) *F. Asenjo Barbiero, ed.: Cancionero musical de los siglos XV y XVI (Madrid, 1890/R), 22, 36–7 *M. Schneider: Gestaltimitation als Komposition-Prinzip im Cancionero de Palacio, Mf, xi (1958), 415–22 *G. Haberkamp: Die weltliche Vokalmusik in Spanien um 1500 (Tutzing, 1968), 186 *T. Knighton: Music and Musicians at the Court of Fernando of Aragon, 1474–1516 (diss., U. of Cambridge, 1984), i, 274 *E. Casares, ed.: Francisco Asenjo Barbieri: Biografías y documentos sobre música y músicos españoles, Legado Barbieri, i (Madrid, 1986), 275 *F. Reynaud: La polyphonie tolédane et son milieu: des premiers témoignages aux environs de 1600 (Paris, 1996), 102–6

References

External links

* * Year of birth unknown 1543 deaths Spanish classical composers Spanish male classical composers Renaissance composers Spanish music educators Year of birth uncertain {{Spain-composer-stub