Francisco Guerrero

Francisco Guerrero de Burgos (Seville, October 4, 1528-ibid., November 8, 1599) was a Spanish Catholic priest and chapel master who, together with Tomás Luis de Victoria and Cristóbal de Morales is one of the great names of sacred music of the Renaissance and one of the greatest Hispanic composers of all time, whose works were spread and appreciated not only in Europe but also in the territories of the Spanish Crown of the time, especially the great American cathedrals like Puebla or Cuzco.

Biography

He was born in Seville on October 4, 1528, son of the painter Gonzalo Sánchez Guerrero and Leonor de Burgos. He entered the choir of the Cathedral of Seville and there he received his first musical training, from his brother Pedro de ella and the poet and chapelmaster Pedro Fernández de Castilleja. He also received instruction, in 1545-46, from Cristóbal de Morales in the cathedral of Toledo. In 1546, at the age of 17, he was appointed chapelmaster of the cathedral of Jaén, a city in which he remained until 1549, when he returned to Seville to enter as prebendary in its cathedral. He himself tells it at the beginning of The Journey to Jerusalem (1590):

Since the first years of my childhood I bowed to the art of music; and in it I was taught of a brother of mine, called Pedro Guerrero, very learned master. And such a priessa gave me with his doctrine and punishment, that with my good will to learn and to be my wit accommodated to such art, in a few years he had some satisfaction from me. Then, by his absence, I always wished to improve myself, I moved from the dotrina of the great and excellent teacher Christóval de Morales, the qual led me to the compost of music quite enough to be able to pretend qualquier Magisterio. And when I was ten and eight years old, I was held by the chapel master of the cathedral church of Jaen, with a ration, where I was three years old. At last I came to Seville to visit my parents, and the Cabildo of the Holy Church commanded me to serve them as a singer with a very good salary. And I, for thanking this mercy and obeying the command of my parents, gave up what I had in Jaen, having for much honor the one that was done to me in this, even if the loss of what I dexava was greater.

Before he turned thirty he had established an exceptional reputation and his work was published abroad. He was appointed chapel master of the Málaga cathedral, after the death of Cristóbal de Morales, who had left the position vacant, he competed against five rivals among them Juan Navarro Hispalensis de Marchena, teacher of Tomás Luis de Victoria. Although Guerrero never lived in Malaga, before being employed by the choir of the cathedral of Seville, where he was appointed teacher of the children, with the promise by the Cathedral Chapter of the succession of teacher Castilleja when he died. The definitive ownership would be obtained in 1574.

He traveled extensively through Spain and Portugal, in the service of Emperor Maximilian II, and then spent a year in Italy (1581-1582). At the age of 60, after the death of his parents, he decided to visit the Holy Land, which he did between the summer of 1588 and the spring of 1589. He took advantage of the time he had to wait in Venice for the edition of several of his works. Shortly before returning to Spain, he was taken captive by French pirates and had to be ransomed, as was common at the time, for the payment of a considerable amount. The adventure was narrated by him in the book El viage de Hierusalem ("The journey of Jerusalem, made by Francisco Guerrero, racionero and chapel master of the holy church of Seville&# 34;) published in Valencia, printing house of the heirs of Juan Navarro, 1590. This work was very successful and was reprinted many times (up to thirty, the last in 2000). The book is interesting because how frankly and plainly it is written and describes among other things with great amazement the great city of Damascus. Due to debts incurred in the editing and publication of his works, in August 1591 a prison order was issued against him, and he was sent to the Royal Prison of Seville. The Sevillian council, in response to the services provided by Guerrero, agrees to pay his debts, allowing him to leave prison. He was hired again for the choir of the cathedral of Seville, where he ended his days as chapelmaster, when the plague of 1599 ended his life. His tomb is in the Chapel of Our Lady of Antigua, next to that of his companion, the organist Francisco de Peraza. Aside from music, he was a member of the Holy Office.

Guerrero spent more time in Spain than Victoria or Morales, long residents of Italy, and he also composed a greater proportion of secular works. He also distinguishes himself from them by an abundant instrumental work, in addition to the main body, made up of sacred vocal works. He stands out for the variety of emotions that he was able to put into his music, from mystical recollection to exaltation, from the greatest joy to despair. His work, very popular, continued to be performed for a long time, especially in American cathedrals, until the end of the 17th century , and was praised by treatise authors such as Pietro Cerone. Like his Spanish contemporaries ^{[ citation needed ] , he preferred homophonic textures, with one voice dominant and the others subordinate to it. He anticipated functional harmony, which resulted in one of his Magnificat, whose anonymous score was found in Lima, being long considered a work of the century XVIII.}

Tributes

In Seville, a Professional Music Conservatory bears his name.

Works

Among his works we can highlight 17 masses, 2 services for the dead, 23 hymns, some 105 printed motets and a cycle of magnificats (he was always known in Spain as a fervent singer to the Virgin). Also noteworthy are the Spiritual songs and villanescas, unique in their genre for being in the vernacular^{[< i>citation required]}. Several of his compositions of different genres are contained in the Musical Songbook of the House of Medinaceli .

Masses

Motets

Hymns

Magnificat

• Two magnificats on each of the eight tones, that is, sixteen in total.

Passions

Recordings

• Francisco Guerrero, Missa Sancta et Immaculata, Motets, Etc. James O'Donnell, Westminster Cathedral Choir. Helios 55313
• Francisco Guerrero, Missa Super flumina Babylonis. Michael Noone, Ensemble Plus Ultra. GCD922005
• Francisco Guerrero, Missa Surge Propera. Peter Philips, Tallis Scholars. CDGIM040