Peñalosa, Francisco de (EN)

Peñalosa, Penyalosa, Francisco de, *ca. 1470 Talavera de la Reina, †1 April 1528 Carmona (near Seville), Spanish composer and priest. Between 1498 and 1516, he sang in the chapel of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, known as Ferdinand the Catholic, and from 1511 also taught music to his grandson, Ferdinand. From 1517 to 1521, he resided in Rome, where he was a singer in the choir of Pope Leo X. After the pope’s death, he settled in Seville in 1522 and remained active there until the end of his life as a canon of the cathedral, where he was ultimately buried.

Peñalosa is the most abundantly represented Spanish composer in surviving sources from the first quarter of the 16th century. His masses are based on cantus firmus placed in the tenor, while the other voices frequently imitate these melodies. In one of his masses, elements of parody appear, as a second voice from a composition by J. Urrede is also incorporated. Peñalosa used Spanish songs as cantus firmus three times (El ojo, Nunca fue pena mayor, and Por la mar), French songs twice (Adieu mes amours and L’homme armé), and a Latin chant once (Ave Maria peregrina). Few of his motets reference the chant, but it is generally employed for imitation rather than as a cantus firmus. In the remaining works, the melodies likely originate from the composer’s own invention, with imitative passages alternating with free polyphony and homorhythmic sections emphasising important textual moments. His hymns, based on local melodies placed in the bass or tenor, stand out in the manuscript collection in which they are preserved due to their rich polyphonic texture. Peñalosa’s songs do not differ from contemporary repertoire; among them, the six-voice Por las sierras de Madrid, referred to in literature as an “ensalada” due to its combination of several popular melodies, is particularly noteworthy. 

Literature: R. Stevenson La música en la Catedral de Sevilla, 1478–1606, documentos para su estudio, Los Angeles 1954, 2nd expanded edition. Madrid 1985; J. Moll Notas para la historia musical de la corte del Duque de Calabria, “Anuario Musical” XVIII, 1963; S. Rubio Historia de la música española, vol. 2, Madrid 1983; J.M. Hardie The Motets of Francisco de Peñalosa and Their Manuscript Sources, thesis, University of Michigan, 1983; T. Knighton Music and Musicians at the Court of Fernando of Aragon, 1474–1516, thesis, University of Cambridge, 1984; D. Preciado Canto tradicional y polifonía en el primer Renacimiento español in: España en la Música de Occidente, ed. E. Casares Rodicio et al., vol. 1, Madris 1987; T. Knighton The Spanish Court of Ferdinand and Isabella, w: Man and Music. The Renaissance, ed. I. Fenlon, New Jersey 1989; P. Calahorra Martínez Los fondos musicales en el siglo XVI de la Catedral de Tarazona, part. 1: Inventarios, “Nassarre” VIII, 1992; T. Knighton A Day in the Life of Francisco de Peñalosa, in: Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music, ed. T. Knighton and D. Fallows, London 1992; E. Ros-Fábregas The Manuscript Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya, M.454. Study and Edition in the Context of the Iberian and Continental Manuscript Traditions, thesis, University of New York, 1992; E. Ros-Fábregas Canciones sin musica en la corte de Isabel la Católica, “Revista de Musicología” XVI, 1993; G. Mele La musica in Spagna durante l’età colombiana. Sguardo storico e bibliografico, “Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana” XXVIII, 1994; O.L. Reese Polyphony in Portugal c. 1530–c. 1620. Sources from the Monastery of Santa Cruz, Coimbra, New York and London 1995; B. Turner Peñalosa’s Hymn O lux beata Trinitas: A Contrafactum?, “Early Music” XXXIII, 1995; T. Knighton Música y músicos en la corte de Fenando el Católico, 1474–1516, Zaragoza 2001; T. Knighton Francisco de Peñalosa: New Works Lost and Found, in: Encomium Musicae. Essays in Memory of Robert J. Snow, ed. D. Crawford, Hillsdale 2002; C. Urchueguía Die Mehrstimmige Messe im ‘Goldenen Jahrhundert’. Überlieferung und Repertoirebildung in Quellen aus Spanien und Portugal (ca. 1490–1630), Tutzing 2003; K. Kreitner The Church Music of Fifteenth-Century Spain, Woodbridge 2004; M.E. Cuenca Rodríguez Francisco de Peñalosa (ca. 1470–1528) y las misas en sus distintos contextos, thesis, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2017; W. Odoj Humanista Francisco de Peñalosa (c. 1470‒1528) i jego Jeremiaszowe Lamentacje, “Liturgia Sacra” LVI, 2020; M. del Sol Lágrimas del Renacimiento en España. El canto llano de las Lamentaciones de Jeremías en polifonía, Kassel 2021.