Mateo Romero (ca. 1575 – 1647) was a Belgian-born Spanish composer of

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

and master of the

royal chapel A royal chapel is a chapel associated with a monarch, a royal court, or in a royal palace. A royal chapel may also be a body of clergy or musicians serving at a royal court or employed by a monarch. Commonwealth countries Both the United Kin ...

.Sadie, Julie Anne: ''Companion to Baroque Music''.

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 1998
p. 341

Biography

Romero was born as Mathieu Rosmarin in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and, following the early death of his father was, like many children from the then-Spanish Netherlands, recruited as a child to serve as a choir boy at the Madrid court. Between 1586 and 1593 he was taught in Spain by his countrymen

George de la Hèle George de La Hèle (also Georges, Helle, Hele) (1547 – August 27, 1586) was a Franco-Flemish school, Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance music, Renaissance, mainly active in the Habsburg chapels of Spain and the Low Countries. Among his s ...

and

Philippe Rogier Philippe Rogier (c. 1561 – 29 February 1596) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active at the Habsburg court of Philip II in Spain. He was one of the last members of the Franco-Flemish school, in the closing days of the Renaissa ...

. He took the name Romero in 1594. In 1598 he was ''

maestro de capilla ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (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 has evolved considerably in i ...

'' at the Spanish court of

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

and

Philip III of Spain Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...

. He remained in this position till 1634. In 1609 he was ordained a priest and was private chaplain to Philipp III. He was also secretary of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

. After the death of Philip, he was also chaplain to

King John IV of Portugal '' Dom'' John IV (; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), also known by the Portuguese as John the Restorer (), was the King of Portugal from 1640 until his death in 1656. He restored the independence of Portugal from Habsburg Spanish rule by ter ...

. Romero was one of the most appreciated composers of his time; he was known as "El Maestro Capitan". His service extended over the threshold of two musical eras, 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 ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. Although he was not part of the

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

school of the great

Franco-Flemish school The designation Franco-Flemish School, also called Netherlandish School, Burgundian School, Low Countries School, Flemish School, Dutch School, or Northern School, refers to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition originating from Franc ...

, he played an important role in the introduction of Italian ''stile moderno'' in Spain.

Works

Most of his works, which were stored in the Royal Library in Lisbon, were destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.Ann Livermore A short history of Spanish music 1972 p107 Surviving works include: Masses: * Missa Bonae voluntatis 9 voices and B.c. (also 5 voice version) * Missa Qui Habitat (8 voices and B.c.) - based on his own Psalm. * Missa Un jour l'amant (8 voices and B.c.) - parody mass of chanson of

Lassus Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlu ...

. * Missa Dolce fiamella (5 voices and B.c.) * Missa Batalla (4 voices and B.c.) * Missa de Requiem de dos Baxos (8 voices and B.c.) Missa "Pro Defunctis" * Missa Veu que de vostre amour a 8 * Missa Dolce fiamella mia a 5 - on madrigal by

Giovanni Maria Nanino Giovanni Maria Nanino (also Nanini; 1543 or 1544 – 11 March 1607) was an Italian composer and teacher of the late Renaissance. He was a member of the Roman School of composers, and was the most influential music teacher in Rome in the late 16t ...

. * Missa on the Litany, 5vv (on his own 8 voice Litany * Missa Batalla a 4 - on

Clement Janequin Clement or Clément may refer to: People * Clement (name), a given name and surname * Saint Clement (disambiguation)#People Places * Clément, French Guiana, a town * Clement, Missouri, U.S. * Clement Township, Michigan, U.S. * Clement's P ...

's ''La Bataille'' * Missa Sabbato Sancto a 4 Magnificats, Psalms and Motets: * 3 Magnificat * 3 Dixit Dominus * Domine, quando veneris * Libera me, Domine * Convertere Domine * Domine, ne in furore tuo Secular works: * 9

villancicos 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, Ped ...

* 3 canciones a 3 * 5 letrillas a 3 * 2 novenas a 2 * 2 folías * 15 romances a 3 to texts by

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

Francisco de Quevedo Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Order of Santiago, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, ...

and others. * 1

seguidilla The seguidilla (; ; plural in both English and Spanish ''seguidillas''; diminutive of ''seguida'', which means "sequence" and is the name of a dance). Accessed May 2008. is an old Crown of Castile, Castilian folksong and dance form in quick triple ...

* 11 songs (treble voice surviving only) in Cancionero de Onteniente, 1645.

Discography

* "Romero - Music At The Spanish Court" Currende, dir.

Erik Van Nevel Erik Van Nevel (1956) is a Belgian singer and conductor. He is the nephew of Paul Van Nevel. He pursued instrumental and vocal studies at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, the Koninklijk Conservatorium (Brussels) and the Koninklijk Conservatori ...

, 1996 (Cypres 3606) * "Missa pro defunctis - Requiem para Cervantes" Ensemble Schola Antiqua, La Grande Chapelle, dir. Ángel Recasens (Communidad) * "Office Pour l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or" Choeur de Chambre de Namur, dir. Jean Tubéry. 2003 (Ricercar)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Matheo Spanish Baroque composers 1570s births 1647 deaths Belgian male classical composers Spanish male classical composers Musicians from Liège 17th-century classical composers 17th-century male musicians