''Tiento'' (, pt, Tento ) is a musical genre originating in Spain in the mid-15th century. It is formally analogous to the
fantasia (fantasy), found in England, Germany, and the Low Countries, and also the
ricercare
A ricercar ( , ) or ricercare ( , ) is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition. The term ''ricercar'' derives from the Italian verb which means 'to search out; to seek'; many ricercars serve a preludial functi ...
, first found in Italy. By the end of the 16th century the tiento was exclusively a keyboard form, especially of
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 ...
music. It continued to be the predominant form in the Spanish organ tradition through the time of
Cabanilles, and developed many variants. Additionally, many 20th-century composers have written works entitled "''tiento''".
Name
The word derives from the Spanish verb ''tentar'' (meaning either to touch, to tempt or to attempt), and was originally applied to music for various instruments. In the early eighteenth century, some composers also used the term ''obra'', originally a more general term meaning "work", to refer to this genre.
Formal aspects
The tiento is formally extraordinarily diverse, more a set of guidelines than a rigid structural model such as
fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
or
rondo
The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period.
Etymology
The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round".
Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...
. Nearly all tientos are imitative to some degree, though not as complex or developed as the fugue. This has led to their being associated with the other embryonic imitative forms cited above. Similarly, it is difficult to assign a single texture to the form, since it underwent a considerable amount of evolution from its inception to its decline in the late 18th century. The earliest tientos (such as those of
Cabezón) were stylistically quite close to the ricercare in their extended use of the strict, motet-style counterpoint. Later (especially in the works of Cabanilles), tientos would frequently alternate between the older style of strict counterpoint, and virtuosic, affective figuration typical of the
toccata
Toccata (from Italian ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuo ...
and some fantasias. The evolution of the form was in part conditioned by the evolution of the Spanish organ, and it eventually came to include several variants or sub-forms, several of which are listed below:
* Tiento de medio registro: A tiento making use of the split keyboard, frequently found on Spanish organs from the mid-16th century on. The split keyboard refers to an organ manual where ranks of pipes may be engaged for half the keyboard, as opposed to the entire compass, which is the norm. This enables the player to utilize different sounds on the same keyboard, generally a solo sound and an accompaniment sound, though occasionally two sounds of equal strength. The tiento de medio registro figures prominently in the oeuvres of
Correa de Arauxo,
Aguilera de Heredia, and
Bruna.
* Tiento de lleno: The opposite of the tiento de medio registro; a tiento played on one sound (full register).
* Tiento de falsas: A tiento making frequent use of dissonance, so as to achieve particularly dramatic effect. "Falsas" refers to "false notes," or dissonant tones not part of the current mode or key. It is similar to the Italian idea of
Durezze e ligature (consonance and dissonance).
* Tiento pleno: an irregular tiento consisting of three sections: a prelude, fugue, and postlude. It has more in common with the German
praeludium
A prelude (german: Präludium or '; la, praeludium; french: prélude; it, preludio) is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction t ...
than with other tientos.
Composers
*
Antonio de Cabezón
Antonio de Cabezón (30 March 1510 – 26 March 1566) was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as a performer and was eventually employed by the royal family. He was among the most impo ...
(1510–1566)
*
António Carreira
António Carreira (Lisbon, ca. 1520-30 - Lisbon, ca. 1597) was a Portuguese composer and organist of the Renaissance.
He held the post of organist at the Royal Chapel in Lisbon. His compositions (Fantasias, Tientos, Chansons) reveal his high contr ...
(ca. 1520/30– fl. 1587/97)
*
Bernardo Clavijo de Castillo
Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard".
Given name People
* Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Franc ...
(1545–1626)
*
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho (ca. 15551635) was a Portuguese organist and composer. He is the first important Iberian keyboard composer since Cabezón.
Coelho was born in Elvas around 1555 and probably received early education at the Elvas Cathedral. ...
(1555–1635)
*
Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia
Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia (August 1561 – 16 December 1627Robert Cummings, "Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia", aAllMusic.com/ref>) was a Spanish monk, musician and composer.
He was first the organ (music), organist at the Huesca Cathedral, cath ...
(1561–1627)
*
Francisco de Peraza (1564–1598)
*
Gaspar Fernandes Gaspar Fernandes (sometimes written ''Gaspar Fernández'', the Spanish version of his name) (1566–1629) was a Portuguese-Mexican composer and organist active in the cathedrals of Santiago de Guatemala (present-day Antigua Guatemala) and Puebla de ...
(1566–1629)
*
Estacio de Lacerna (ca. 1570–after 1616)
*
Francisco Correa de Arauxo
Francisco Correa de Araujo (or Arauxo, or Acebedo) (1584–1654) was a Spanish organist, composer, and theorist of the late Renaissance.
Life
Correa de Araujo was born in Seville. Like most Spanish organists from this era, details of his life ...
(1584–1654)
*
José Ximénez (1601–1672)
*
José Perandreu
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
(fl. mid–17th century)
*
Pablo Bruna
Pablo Bruna (22 June 1611 – 27 June 1679) was a Spanish composer and organist notable for his blindness (caused by a childhood bout of smallpox), which resulted in his being known as "El ciego de Daroca" ("the blind man of Daroca"). It is not kno ...
(1611–1679)
*
Juan Cabanilles
Juan Bautista José Cabanilles (also Juan Bautista Josep, Valencian language, Valencian: Joan) (6 September 1644 in Algemesí near Valencia (city in Spain), Valencia – 29 April 1712 in Valencia) was a Spanish organist and composer at Valencia ...
(1644–1712)
Contemporary composers
*
Jean Langlais
Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III (15 February 1907 – 8 May 1991) was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "" ("Breton, of Catholic faith").
Biography
Langlais was born in L ...
(1907–1991): includes a tiento as movement 2 of his ''Suite Médiévale'' (1947)
*
Maurice Ohana
Maurice Ohana (12 June 1913 – 13 November 1992) was a French composer. Ohana's output includes choral works, string quartets, suites for ten-string guitar, a ''Tiento'' for six-string guitar, and operas.
Life and career
Ohana was born in Casab ...
(1913–1992): composed a ''Tiento'' for
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
(1957)
* Benet Casablancas (1956) has recently (2012) written a ''Tiento'' for organ based on the
Lutheran chorale
A Lutheran chorale is a musical setting of a Lutheran hymn, intended to be sung by a congregation in a German Protestant Church service. The typical four-part setting of a chorale, in which the sopranos (and the congregation) sing the melody al ...
''Frisch auf, mein' Seel', verzage nichte'' a part of the ''Orgelbüchlein Project''.
* Carlotta Ferrari (1975) has published three Tientos for Organ: Tiento de lleno, Tiento de falsas and Tiento de batalla (IMSLP 2015).
Notes
References
*
* Willi Apel. ''The History of Keyboard Music to 1700''. Translated by Hans Tischler. Indiana University Press, 1972. . Originally published as ''Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700'' by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel.
{{Music of Spain
Renaissance music
Spanish dances
Spanish music