Rodrigo de Ceballos (also Çavallos, Cevallos, Zaballos; c.1525-c.1581) was a Spanish composer. He was born in

Aracena Aracena () is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva, south-western Spain. , the city has a population of 7,814 inhabitants. The town derived its name from the Sierra de Aracena, which is part of the Sierra Morena system. Arac ...

(

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The rias ...

), and was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

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 ...

in 1556. He was named ''

maestro di cappella (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

in 1554, in the cathedral of Córdoba in 1556, and in

Royal Chapel of Granada The Royal Chapel of Granada ( es, Capilla Real de Granada) is an Isabelline style building, constructed between 1505 and 1517, and originally integrated in the complex of the neighbouring Granada Cathedral. It is the burial place of the Spanish m ...

in 1561 until is death in 1581. He is among the composers of the Andalusian school, alongside better-known composers such as

Francisco Guerrero Francisco Guerrero is the name of: *Francisco Guerrero (composer) (1528–1599), Spanish composer of the Renaissance * Francisco Guerrero (politician) (1811–1851), Alcalde of San Francisco *Francisco Guerrero Marín (1951–1997), Spanish composer ...

(who, with Pedro Fernández de Castilleja, gave him his holy orders) or Cristobal de Morales. His polyphonic works, preserved in various Spanish and Latin American cathedrals and

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, are often confused with those of Francisco de Ceballos, who was maestro at

Burgos Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos ( es, Santa Iglesia Basílica Catedral Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos) is a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary located in the historical center of the Spanish city of Burgos. Its official n ...

from 1535 to his death in 1571.Hans Federico Neuman ''Introducción a la música española del Renacimiento'' p46

Works

79 works of Rodrigo's are known to survive; these include 39

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 Margar ...

s, three

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

es, eight

psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

s for

Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...

, six

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

s, eight settings of the ''

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

y soul Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

magnifies

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

'', a setting of

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wo ...

, and seven secular pieces.

Recordings

* ''Rodrigo de Ceballos – Lamentaciones'' Ensemble Gilles Binchois, dir

Dominique Vellard Dominique Vellard (born 1953) is a French tenor and specialist in medieval music. In 1979 he founded the Ensemble Gilles Binchois, a leading ensemble in the performance of Ars Nova music. He is also a composer. Selected discography Harmonic: *Gre ...

. Alma Viva DS0136 Anthologies: * ''Song of Songs''

Stile Antico (early music vocal ensemble) ''Stile antico'' (literally "ancient style", ), is a term describing a manner of musical composition from the sixteenth century onwards that was historically conscious, as opposed to ''stile moderno'', which adhered to more modern trends. ''Prima ...

* ''Canticum Canticorum: Spanish polyphonic settings from the Song of Songs'' Orchestra of the Renaissance dir Richard Cheetham (conductor),

Michael Noone Michael Noone (born 16 October 1989) is an Irish rugby union player from County Wicklow, Ireland currently playing for Clontarf Noone is from Greystones, County Wicklow. He was educated at Presentation College, Bray where he played in the ...

. * ''El siglo de Oro: Spanish Sacred Music of the Renaissance'' London Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble,

Pro Cantione Antiqua Pro Cantione Antiqua of London (PCA) is a British choral group which was founded in 1968 by tenor James Griffett, counter-tenor Paul Esswood, and conductor and producer Mark Brown. Their first concert was at St Bartholomew's, Smithfield with Bria ...

, dir.

Bruno Turner Bruno Turner (born 7 February 1931) is a British musicologist, choral conductor, broadcaster, publisher and businessman. His scholarship and recordings have focused on early music, especially of Spanish polyphony. Biography Turner was born in Lo ...

. * ''Medieval & Renaissance Gardens In Music''

Orlando Consort The Orlando Consort is a British vocal consort which is best known for performing Renaissance choral music one voice to a part. The Consort was founded in 1988 as part of the activities of the Early Music Network of Great Britain, a forerunner of th ...

References

External links

Biography
in several languages * Renaissance composers Spanish classical composers Spanish male classical composers {{Spain-composer-stub