Hernando Franco (1532 – November 28, 1585) was a Spanish composer of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, who was mainly active in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Life

Franco was born in Galizuela (now part of Esparragosa de Lares, Badajoz Province) in

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

, a source region for many people who came to the New World in the 16th century. He was trained in music as a choir boy, and later apprentice and journeyman, at Segovia Cathedral by Gerónimo de Espinar, who may also have been a teacher of

Tomás Luis de Victoria Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Re ...

. While a youth he met and befriended Lázaro del Álamo, who was to precede him as ''maestro de capilla'' in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Most likely Franco went to Nueva España in the 1550s, though there is no record of his activities until 1571 when he appears in the records as ''maestro de capilla'' of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala, the capital city of the

Captaincy General of Guatemala The Captaincy General of Guatemala (), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala (), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central America, including present-day Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras ...

. That magnificent building, since destroyed by an earthquake, had been newly constructed in the valley of Panchoy, present-day

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

, after the city had to be moved from the previous site in the Almolonga valley. Franco left that position in 1574 after a series of budget cuts that affected his salary, and undertook the journey to Mexico. Here he was fortunate to find the position of ''maestro de capilla'' of the new cathedral vacant. He was appointed the new chapel master in 1575, where his old friend Lázaro del Álamo had been ''maestro de capilla'' from 1556 to 1570. Franco was clearly a well-respected and beloved figure, since he was granted a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the 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 choir ...

in 1581 and contemporary documents contain numerous references to his exemplary character and musicianship. He resigned in 1582 during a period of financial difficulties in Mexico City, and died in 1585. He is buried in the cathedral's main chapel.

Work and influence

Franco wrote 20

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 preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s which survive, as well as 16

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

settings and a setting for four voices of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. He seems to have written no masses, an unusual omission for a composer who headed a Spanish chapel

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, but it is possible that much of his music has been lost. Some

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'' d ...

s in the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

by a composer of the same name (Hernando don Franco) are now presumed to be the work of a native composer who took Franco's name, as was the custom, on his conversion to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and baptism (if so, they may be the earliest extant notated music in the European tradition by a Native American composer). Franco's style is related to that of other Spanish composers of the period, though more conservative, treating dissonance carefully, avoiding chromaticism and virtuosity; indeed tending towards austerity. His settings of the Magnificat were influenced by those by Cristóbal de Morales. The voice range of his works is limited, and may reflect the singing abilities of his choirs, which were not up to the musical standards of those in Europe. Franco is the earliest known composer in Guatemala; his two pieces in the archives of the Guatemala cathedral, a ''Lumen ad revelationem'' and a ''Benedicamus Domino'', are the earliest surviving manuscripts from the area. Other composers preceded him in Mexico, but he was considered by his contemporaries to be the finest of the 16th century there.

References and further reading

* "Franco, Hernando", "Guatemala", in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. * Barwick, Steven. ''The Franco Codex of the Cathedral of Mexico City''. Carbondale, Illinois:

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

Press, 1965. * Barwick, Steven. ''Two Mexico City Choirbooks of 1717''. Carbondale, Illinois:

Press, 1982. * Lehnhoff, Dieter. ''Creación musical en Guatemala''. Guatemala City: Editorial Galería Guatemala, 2005, 42–3. * Reese, Gustave. ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. * Snow, Robert L. ''A New World Collection of Polyphony''. Chicago, Illinois:

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Press, 1996. * Tello, Aurelio. "Franco, Hernando". ''Diccionario de la Música Española e Hispanoamericana'', 10 vols., ed. Emilio Casares Rodicio. Madrid: Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, 1999, 5/247-8.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Hernando 1532 births 1585 deaths People from the Province of Badajoz Musicians from Extremadura People from New Spain Spanish Renaissance composers Spanish male classical composers