Juan+de+Encina


 * Juan del Encina** (born July 12, 1468 – died late 1529 or early 1530). His actual name was Juan de Fermoselle, and was one of at least 7 known children. Fermoselle was a composer, poet and playwright, often called the founder of Spanish drama.

Even though his works were dedicated to royal families, he never served as a member of a royal chapel. And even though Encina worked in many Cathedrals and was ordained as a priest, no religious musical works are known to still exist. Most of his works were done by his mid-30's, some 60 or more songs attributed to Encina, and another 9 settings of texts on top of that, to which the music could also be added, but not for certain. Many of the surviving pieces are villancicos, which he was a leading composer in. The Spanish villancico is the equivalent of the Italian Frottola. There are three and four voice settings that offer a variety of styles depending on the kind of text, with very limited movements in the voices in preparation for the cadence points.To make the text heard clearly, Encina used varied and flexible rhythms that are patterned on the accents of the verse, and used simple yet strong harmonic progressions. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_del_Encina)



Plays: //Triunfo de la fama// (1492) //Cancionero// (1496) //Tan buen ganadico// (1496) //Más vale trocar// (1496) //Triste España sin ventura// (1504) //Plácida y Victoriano// (1513) //Églogas// //Oy comamos y bebamos// (late 15th century) //Tribagia o Via Sacra de Hierusalem// (1521)

Links: http://www.nndb.com/people/831/000095546/ http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Juan_del_Encina http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186513/Juan-del-Encina