21 - Spain, i : 1530–1600

Summary

DURING the sixteenth century, Spanish musical culture enjoyed a period of expansion unprecedented in peninsular history. Religious and secular institutions, buoyed by the wealth flowing in from the colonies in the New World, spent lavishly on expanding the vocal and instrumental ensembles that had been established in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Because the Church enjoyed immense political and economic power during this period, musical life flourished particularly in such great cathedral cities as Seville, Toledo, and Barcelona, where churchmen favorably inclined to music supported a large number of musicians in a liturgy richly adorned with music. The Spanish monarchs Charles v and Philip ii maintained large royal musical establishments as well, and their patronage assured that Spanish music kept its place in the compositional developments of the European mainstream. Many notable musicians came to Spain to serve the royal court. The unwavering royal support of traditional doctrine played a part as well in the flourishing of cathedral music, although the favor bestowed on foreign-born composers made the royal contribution to indigenous musical development somewhat less significant. Finally, peninsular musical culture, both sacred and secular, was deeply imbued with the humanist tradition, and the intellectual and economic resources of the Church, the royal court, and noble families were directed toward promoting artistic and musical creativity.

MUSIC IN RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

Cathedrals

Early modern Spanish musical culture has been accused of insularity and Spanish composers characterized as provincial for their reluctance to work outside Spain. In fact, the inventories of sixteenth-century Spanish musical libraries make clear that Spanish patrons and musicians lived in a cosmopolitan musical culture where the works of many foreign composers were performed and studied. Works by Agricola, Arcadelt, Brumel, Clemens non Papa, Compère, Févin, Gombert, Isaac, Josquin, Manchicourt, Mouton, Obrecht, Ockeghem, Palestrina, Richafort, Verdelot, Weerbecke, and Willaert can be found today in Iberian manuscripts, or once filled the shelves of Spanish and Portuguese libraries. Printed collections, such as the vihuela books put together by Spanish composers and editors, testify to the fact that even non-professional musicians and listeners were familiar with many kinds of foreign music, both sacred and secular. On the other hand, Spain's richly endowed cathedrals provided native composers with such attractive incomes and excellent musical resources that relatively few Spanish composers during the sixteenth century pursued careers abroad.