HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alonso Lobo (February 25, 1555 (baptised) – April 5, 1617) was a Spanish composer of the late
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 id ...
. Although not as famous as Tomás Luis de Victoria, he was highly regarded at the time, and Victoria himself considered him to be his equal.


Biography

Lobo was born in
Osuna Osuna () is a town and municipality in the province of Seville, southern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. , it has a population of c. 17,800. It is the location of the Andalusian Social Economy School. Among famous people associa ...
, and after being a choirboy at the cathedral in
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 Peninsul ...
, he received a degree at the University of Osuna, and took a position as a canon at a church in Osuna sometime before 1591. In that year, the Seville Cathedral appointed him as assistant to Francisco Guerrero, and he later became ''maestro de capilla'' during Guerrero's leave of absence. In 1593, Toledo Cathedral hired him as ''maestro de capilla''; he remained there until 1604, when he returned to Seville, where he died. Lobo's music combines the smooth contrapuntal technique of
Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...
with the sombre intensity of Victoria. Some of his music also uses polychoral techniques, which were common in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
around 1600, though Lobo never used more than two choirs (contemporary choral music of the Venetian school often used many more — the Gabrielis often wrote for as many choirs as there were choir-lofts at
St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Pa ...
). Lobo was influential far beyond the borders of his native Spain: in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
, and as far away as
Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
, for the next hundred years or more he was considered to be one of the finest Spanish composers. His works include
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 element ...
es and motets, three Passion settings,
Lamentation A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethi ...
s, psalms and hymns, as well as a Miserere for 12 voices (which has since become lost). His best-known work, ''Versa est in luctum'', was written on the death of Philip II in 1598. No secular or instrumental music by Lobo is known to survive today.


Publications

* 1602, Madrid, ''Liber primus missarum''


References

* Owen Rees: "Lobo, Alonso" in ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', ed. Alison Latham. Oxford University Press, 2003. * Gustave Reese, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. * Article "Alonso Lobo" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.


Recordings

* ''Lamentations'', Choir of Westminster Cathedral directed by Martin Baker on Hyperion CDA68106 * ''Missa Simile est regnum caelorum, Missa O rex gloriae and Lamentations'', Choir of King's College London directed by David Trendell on Sanctuary Gaudeamus, 2002 * ''Vivo ego, dicit Dominus'' recorded by Musicaficta Ensemble, directed by Andrea Angelini * ''Versa est in luctum'' & ''Lamentationes Ieremiae Prophetae'', on the disc ''Santiago a Cappella'', The Monteverdi Choir, directed by John Eliot Gardiner on Universal Classics * ''Versa est in luctum'' & ''Lamentations'' & ''Libera Me'', on the disc ''The Golden Age, Siglo de oro'', released 2008 by The King's Singers on Signum Records * ''Versa est in luctum'' & ''Libera me, Domine'', on the disc ''Mortuus est Philippus Rex'', Choir of Westminster Cathedral, London, directed by James O'Donnell (Hyperion CDA67046) *''Versa est in luctum'', on the disc ''Morales - Requiem, music for Philip II'', Gabrieli Consort, directed by Paul McCreesh (ARCHIV produktion, 457 597-2) * ''Versa est in luctum'', with the Victoria Requiem, The Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips (Gimell, CDGIM 012) * ''Missa Maria Magdalene'', with the motet Maria Magdalene by Guerrero, The Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips (Gimell, CDGIM 031) * ''Versa est in luctum'', on the disc ''Sing Joyfully'', The Hogan Ensemble, directed by Simon Hogan on Convivium Records, 2010.


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lobo, Alonso 1555 births 1617 deaths People from Osuna Renaissance composers Spanish classical composers Spanish male classical composers