Life and musical works of Spanish composer, Antonio Cabezon

Antonio Cabezón

Antonio Cabezón, also known as Antonio de Cabezón (Spanish), Cabezon, Felix Antonio, or Cabecon, Antonio de, and also De Cabezón, Antonio, was an extremely popular keyboard composer, organist, and clavichord player of the 16th century. His remarkable polyphonic works and compositions are admired to this day. He lived from 1510 in Castrillo de Matajudíos, Spain, to March 26, 1566, in Madrid, Spain.

The assumption that Antonio Cabezón had Jewish ancestry, at least to some degree, due to his place of birth in Castrillo de Matajudíos, remains mysterious. He lost his vision at around 8 years of age, but it never weakened his grip on art. Despite being born into a grand aristocratic family, with his marvelous gifted talent, he found no difficulty in integrating into Spanish noble society.

Voyage to Royal Musician

He spent his childhood in Palencia, where his uncle was the vice-general of the diocese. It was in this place where he honed his innate skills. He was initially trained in music by local organists and later by the cathedral organist García de Baeza in Palencia.

In 1525, with strong recommendations, he moved to Toledo from Palencia. In 1526, he was appointed as an organist in the royal chapel of Highness Queen Isabella of Portugal, who became Emperor Charles V’s wife that year. A year later, he became the prime organist for her kingdom.

Afterward, he played for many distinguished people, such as in the chamber consort of Charles V. He married a wealthy lady, Luisa Nunez, in 1538 and moved to his new wife’s native place, Avila. He is survived by his five children, three sons, and two daughters, who also served the royal family. Agustín de Cabezón and Hernando de Cabezón were two of his sons who played the role of organists and composers for the Spanish royalty.

From January to December 1559, Hernando de Cabezón was a substitute organist at the royal court. He was given a full-time organist role at Sigüenza Cathedral on November 15, 1563. And he performed duties in this position until July 15, 1566. In 1566 he succeeded his father as the organist to the king.

He accompanied the king on various tours and stayed in Portugal from 1580 to 1581. The Obras by his father, published in 1578, contains five compositions by him. In the will he made, dated 1598, he mentioned that he was leaving two books of music in tablature (‘dos laborers de música puestos en cifra’), containing music by his father and himself.

After Queen Isabella’s death in 1539, he continued to serve as a royal musician for her children and especially for Philip II during the pre-and post-period of his accession to the throne. Philip II later became King Philip II, the sole employer of Cabezón from 1548.

Philip II (in Spanish, Felipe II de España and in Portuguese articles, Filipe I) was born on May 21, 1527, and died on September 13, 1598. He was the ruler of Spain from 1556 until 1598, King of Naples from 1554 until 1598, king consort of England (as the husband of Mary I) from 1554 to 1558, Lord of the Seventeen Provinces (holding various titles for the individual territories, such as Duke or Count) from 1556 until 1581, King of Portugal and the Algarves (as Philip I) from 1580 until 1598, and King of Chile from 1554 until 1556.

Philip II is considered one of the greatest sovereigns in the history of Spain. During his time, the Spanish Empire led global, worldwide exploration and colonial imposing expansion across the Atlantic and the Pacific, and imprinted his name and kingdom for a time as the foremost and majestic global power.

King Philip II traveled widely throughout Europe during the period 1548-56, and Antonio accompanied him on his journeys abroad. It includes his involvement in the prime event, the King’s marriage to Queen Mary of England.

He traveled through Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, England (July 1554-January 1556), the Netherlands (October 1548-July 1551), and Flanders with the king. During these trips, he was exposed to a great deal of music and, in turn, made a huge influence on local composers, especially the English players of the virginals. After his excursion around Europe with the King, he finally settled in Madrid, Spain, where the Spanish Royal Court was headquartered. He dwelled there for the rest of his life until his death.

Antonio Cabezón’s Creations

Antonio Cabezón was renowned for his creative compositions during his time. Felipe Pedrell (Philip II) bestowed on him the title ‘the Spanish Bach’ for his amazing works.

Cabezón’s music was greatly influenced by that of the Franco-Flemish composers, particularly Josquin Desprez, but his works, as is vividly noticeable, are in the Spanish instrumental tradition. His keyboard writing is spectacularly idiomatic. Wonderfully arranged ups and downs of notes and modulations mark his music, which is molded with modal chromaticism. A striking implementation of intervals (discouraged by contemporary theorists with disapproving nods) enabled him to develop a colorful harmonic and rhythmic palette. His mild and sensitive approach to melodic writing produced intensely twirled and woven, unified works that depended primarily on augmentation, amalgamation, and diminution of a fundamental idea for variation and development.

He covered a wide variety of instrumental genres. His music was diverse, imaginative, singular, and challenging. Antonio Cabezón’s organ and keyboard music consisted of:

• Tientos – Tientos is a musical form that originated in Spain in the early 15th century, and varied in techniques and musical moods. They make short, intense, liturgical, and polyphonic works for organs. He is best known for Tientos which were entirely his own fantasies of original work.
• Diferencias – which were sets and subsets of variations on worldly tunes. He pioneered these. These are mostly based on melodies from Spanish Canciones and on dances.
• Versos – which were defined as the synchronized versions of the eight psalm tones.
• Magnificats – which were compositions derived from the polyphonic works of other composers.
• Glosas – in tabulations of polyphonic works by other composers, usually not Spanish, reconceived as keyboard pieces.
• Fabordones – comprising variations, organized according to mode, following a homophonic exposition (llano).

He also tried his hand at various varieties of literal pieces such as hymns, Kyrie verses, and psalm settings.

He made various teaching pieces for beginners. His total compositions include hymn arrangements, 35 Kyries, 32 Psalm verses, 53 Magnificat verses, 32 fordone, 12 tientos, 29 gloss of sections from Masses and motets by foreign masters, 10 variation sets (diferencias) on subjects ranging from Spanish folk tunes and French chansons to the Milanese galliard, and 18 gloss of French chansons.

In the hymns and Kyrie verses, the principal structural framework is cantus firmus. In music, a cantus firmus is an already existing melody forming the foundation of a polyphonic composition. It also includes a Pavana Italiana that became widely and popularly known throughout England for the whole 16th century as “The Spanish Pavan.” The compilation provided “mere crumbs from my father’s table,” according to Hernando de Cabezón, who mentioned two other collections set for publication when it was allowed by the royal house in his will dated Oct. 30, 1598.

Cabezón was an admirable Baroque composer. It was termed as one of the most prosperous styles of music. When the Netherlands were conquered and united by Emperor Charles V, Burgundy, Naples, and Spain under one crown, Spain was open to the whole European musical community. In Charles’ time in power and that of his son Philip II, who together covered the period 1516-1598, Spanish music reached its apex.

During this period, the building of organs also flourished; organ-builders became innovative and inventive as Spain’s prosperity was seen flowing in the Churches. Philip II himself offered the organ in Granada Cathedral – and it is still in use. The blind organist-composer Antonio de Cabezón (1510-66) was one of the world’s earliest composers of the keyboard, and his work was comparatively very advanced.

Cabezón’s name is marked once more for his experienced hand in Neapolitan songs. Its music is still very much admired in America, and Neapolitan music is still very popular today, from the casinos of Atlantic City and the streets of New York’s Italian neighborhoods to the remotest corners of the country. Its origin in Santa Lucia, Naples, is beautifully defined as “solo Beato, Ove sorridere volle il Creato” (holy soil, smiled upon by the Creator).

The Santa Lucia quarter is called the “impero dell’armonia” (the empire of harmony). Since then, the beguiling melodies and harmonic structures of Neapolitan songs have enriched the repertoires of singers of every style.

19th-century republication of Antonio Cabezón’s work

In 1966, Higinio Anglés developed a new three-volume edition of Antonio Cabezón’s works, which included all his works except the glosas, in Barcelona. A few years after this launch, musicologist Maria Asuncion Ester Salas published a volume that included the missing glosas from the 1966 edition. This is referred to as the fourth volume of the complete creations of Antonio de Cabezón.

Publication of Cabezón’s works

Very few of his compositions were printed when he was alive. They were published by Luis Venegas de Henestrosa in Libro de cifra nueva in 1557. It included around 40 creations by “Antonio,” the great blind virtuoso who was already world-famous and needed no further introduction.

Most of his creations were published by his son, Hernando de Cabezón, in 1578, after his death, as Obras de música para tecla, arpa y vihuela de Antonio de Cabezón, with the title Musical Works for Harpsichord, Harp, and Vihuela (an ancient form of the guitar).

The latter book also includes a general presentation of the composer’s methodical teachings on keyboard playing, including a discussion of fingering that is particularly extraordinary for the progressive ideas it displays. Only one vocal work is known, which had five voices.

The Complete Works of Antonio Cabezón were released on 15 long-playing records in 1983, with the organist and pianist Antonio Baciero as its only supporter.

By 1586, Cabezón’s works, like Obras de música, had made their way to the New World. In that same year, three copies were distributed to booksellers in Mexico City.

A vocal work by Cabezón, Invocación a la letanía, is transmitted in the Cancionero de la Casa de Medinaceli. It is also listed, under the title Letanías, in a register of music from Cuenca Cathedral in 1611, along with ‘una misa de Cabezon.’

CABEZÓN: Canto a mi Caballero:

The release titled “The Tradition of Antonio de Cabezón” contains great music composed directly or indirectly by many known composers. It is highly recommended for the collector’s department. But Cabezón dominates the release, as reflected in the title, playing the role of either composer or arranger for at least 10 of the 20 selections. Many composers of his time used to emulate and imitate his practices thoroughly.

Despite being blind, he made a remarkable place as an instrumental composer and keyboard player in his time. So this “CABEZÓN: Canto a mi Caballero” program is themed to describe both his originality and the wondrous music he adapted from other great composers.

This theme also emphasizes the solo and mixture of instruments. Most of them originated vocally, but they still provide as much fresh experience as instrumental.

This program includes another theme that talks about the flourishing of Spanish “Golden Age” musicians, specifically Cabezón, with the music of foreigners that he learned and taught back during his excursion with Philip II around Europe. To be sure, some of the arranged pieces are Spanish songs, notably the popular “Dezilde al Caballero” heard in Cabezón’s treatments, and also the cantus firmus of a Mass by Morales.

Cabezon’s works:

• Gesamtausgabe der Werke von Antonio de Cabezón
• Antonio und Hernando de Cabezón: Eine Chronik dargestellt am Leben zweier Generationen von Organisten
• Obras de música. Selections; arr. Versos de Magnificat. Versos del sexto tono: 15-78: vierstimmig für Blockflöten oder andere Instrumente
• Diferencias sobre la pavana italiana; arr. Diferencias: zu vier Stimmen, 1578
• Tientos. Selections. Tientos zu vier Stimmen, zweite Folge (1578)
• Tientos. Selections. Cuatro tientos (1557); vier Fantasien zu vier Stimmen
• Obras de música. Selections. Versos de Magnificat, 1578: vierstimmig für Blockflöten oder andere Instrument = in four parts for recorders or other instruments
• Selections. Obras de música para tecla, arpa y vihuela. Recopiladas y puestas en cifra por Hernando de Cabezón su hijo
• Selections. Tientos und Fugen aus den Obras de música para tecla, arpa y vihuela. Bearb. und hrsg. von M. S. Kastner
• Tientos. Selections. 4 Tientos für Orgel, mit oder ohne Pedal: Kleinorgel, Harmonium oder Klavier, Cembalo, Klavichord oder Streichquartett (Streichorchester, auch mit anderen Instrumenten) oder Instrumente aller Art, auch Zupfinstrumente
• Selections. Claviermusik Obras de musica para tecla, arpa y vihuela.

“Obras de Musica Para Tecla” is one of his most distinguished and enthralling creations and is still popularly known and admired even today. It includes his musical varieties, such as gloss, diferencias, and tientos, among others. This “Obras de Musica Para Tecla” was published by his son, Hernando de Cabezón, in 1578, but posthumously.

Renaissance and Cabezon

Cabezon, a harpsichordist, made his mark during the Renaissance period (1450-1600). His popular works related to the Renaissance which affected the era are:

• Mass For The Feast Of St. Isid
• Syms 8/9
• Battle: Organ Music For The Gothic Period
• Armada Music For The Courts Of England
• Roncesvalles Echoes Of A Battle
• Introitus
• La Spagna: A Tune Through Three Centuries

References:

1. A Partial Antonio de Cabezón Discography: http://www.hoasm.org/IVL/CabezonDiscography.html
2. Antonio De Cabezon: http://pda.mymusicbase.ru/SPPB/ppb16/Bio_1635.htm
3. Antonio de Cabezón: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018441/Antonio-de-Cabezon
4. Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566): http://www.karadar.com/Dictionary/cabezon.htm
5. Antonio de Cabezón: Obras de musica, Vol. 4: Harmonices Mundi
6. Antonio de Cabezón (Spanish composer, also spelled Cabeçon): http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/87531/Antonio-de-Cabezon
7. Baroque Composers and Musicians: http://www.baroquemusic.org
8. Cabezon, Antonio de Biography: http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Antonio_de_Cabezon/15903.htm
9. Cabezón: Obras de Música: http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/sym98156.htm
10. De Cabezon, Antonio. History of Spanish Music, Volume III.
11. Don Michael Randel (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Published by Harvard University Press.
12. George Grove, H. C. Colles, Eric Blom, Denis Stevens (1955). Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Published by St. Martin’s Press.
13. Gerald Stares Bedbrook (1949). Keyboard Music from the Middle Ages to the Beginnings of the Baroque. Published by Macmillan.
14. Gilbert Chase (1959). The Music of Spain. Dover Publications.
15. Gesamtausgabe der Werke von Antonio de Cabezón by Antonio Cabezon
16. Goldberg Magazine: http://www.goldbergweb.com/en/history/composers/10390.php
17. Hannu Annala, Heiki Matlik (2007). Handbook of Guitar and Lute Composers. Translated by Katarina Backman. Mel Bay Publications.
18. James Tyler (1980). The Early Guitar: A History and Handbook. Music Department, Oxford University Press.
19. Jiffy Notes: http://www.jiffynotes.com/a_study_guides/book_notes/ewb_03/ewb_03_01050.html
20. John Caldwell (1999). The Oxford History of English Music. Oxford University Press.
21. Michael John Noone (1998). Music and Musicians in the Escorial Liturgy Under the Habsburgs, 1563-1700. Published by Boydell & Brewer.
22. Thomasin K. LaMay (2005). Musical Voices of Early Modern Women: Many-headed Melodies. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
23. Willi Apel, Hans Tischler (1977). The History of Keyboard Music to 1700. Published by Indiana University Press.