De Silva Andreas, *between 1475 and 1480, †after 1530 (?), Spanish (?) composer. In 1513, he composed a motet to mark the election of Leo X, and between 1519 and 1520 he was described as “cantor et compositor” of the papal chapel and “cantor secretus” of the Pope’s private chapel in Rome. By December 1522 at the latest, he had moved to Mantua. It appears that he remained in Italy until the late 1520s.
At the start of the second half of the 16th century De Silva was regarded as one of the most outstanding successors to Josquin des Prés, a view that is upheld by contemporary scholarship. His works display a simplification of compositional structure and melodic line, a concern for effective textual delivery, and, above all, a powerful expressiveness achieved through both melodic means and the choice of harmonies.
Literature: W. Kirsch A. De Silva, ein Meister aus der ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts, “Anuario musical” II, 1965; W Kirsch Die Motetten des A. De Silva. Studien zur Geschichte der Motette im 16. Jahrhundert, Tutzing 1977.
Compositions:
5 masses for 4 voices and one for 7 voices in a collective print, Venice 1521 and manuscripts including those held in Rome and Modena)
motets: one for 3 voices, sixteen for 4 voices (and 5 of doubtful authorship), eight for 5 voices and three for 6 voices in Italian, French and German collective prints from 1514–49 and in manuscripts (including those held in Rome and Modena)
4-voice chanson in a manuscript in Bologna
Editions:
Opera omnia, ed. W. Kirsch, «Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae» XLIX, Rome 1970–77, vol. 1: 17 motets for 4 voices and one for 3 voices, vol. 2: 5- and 6-voice motets, vol. 3: Masses, four 4-voice motets and a chanson
one motet in Treize livres de motets parus chez Pierre Attaingnant en 1534 et 1535, Paris and Monaco 1934–63, vol. 3, ed. A. Smijers
2 motets in Selections from Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, MS Q20, ed. R. Sherr, «Sixteenth-Century Motet», New York-London 1990
