Cancionero de Turin facts for kids
The Cancionero de Turin (say: Kahn-see-oh-NAY-roh day Too-REEN) is a special old music book. It's like a collection of songs from Spain. These songs were written between the late 1500s and early 1600s. This was a time when music was changing from the Renaissance style to the Baroque style.
The book contains polyphonic music. This means the songs have several different voice parts singing at the same time, creating a rich sound. Think of it like a choir where different singers have their own melodies that fit together.
The Music Book
This important music book is kept safe in Turin, Italy. You can find it at the National University Library (R.1–14).
The book's index lists 47 songs. But actually, there are 46 unique songs in total. This is because some songs are listed more than once, and a couple of songs are missing from the index. Also, two songs listed separately (numbers 36 and 37) are actually parts of one longer song called Por dinero baila el perro.
Most of the songs (35 of them) are for three voices. Ten songs are for two voices, and one song is for four voices. The songs are written in popular musical styles of the time, like the villancico (a type of folk song), the canción (a song), and the romance (a song based on a story or poem).
We don't know who wrote most of these songs. They are anonymous. However, one song, Sobre moradas violetas, is also found in another music book called the Cancionero de la Sablonara. In that book, it says the song was written by Juan de Palomares, a guitarist and composer from Seville. The words for this song were written by Catalina Zamudio.
Many of the song lyrics come from popular story-poems called romanceros. Other lyrics were written by famous authors like Lope de Vega and Catalina Zamudio.
List of Songs
| No. | Title | Voices | Type | Found in | Recordings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Por la puente, Juana | 3 | Romance | FIC | This song's chorus appears in other collections from the 1600s. It's also the name of a play by Lope de Vega. | |
| 2 | Ay, malogrados pensamientos míos | 2 | Canción | FIC | ||
| 3 | Ya no soy quien ser solía | 3 | ||||
| 4 | ¿Qué es esto pensamiento? | 3 | ||||
| 5 | A la gineta y vestido | 2 | ||||
| 6 | Adiós esperanças | 3 | Villancico | FIC | ||
| 7 | Al enredador, vecinas | 3 | FIC | |||
| 8 | Ay suspiros | 3 | ||||
| 9 | Aquí ho hay que esperar | 3 | ||||
| 10 | Ay, amargas soledades | 2 | Romance | CLA, FIC | The words were written by Lope de Vega. | |
| 11 | Volved pensamiento mío | 3 | ||||
| 12 | Bella pastorcica | 3 | Villancico | FIC | ||
| 13 | ¿Cómo puede temer daño? | 3 | ||||
| 14 | Con çiertas desconfianças | 3 | ||||
| 15 | Cómo retumban los remos | 3 | ||||
| 16 | De pechos sobre una peña | 3 | ||||
| 17 | ¿Dónde estás, Señora mía? | 3 | Romance | PMA, FIC | This song is also known as Romance del Marqués de Mantua. It is mentioned in the famous book Don Quixote. | |
| 18 | Desdichada la dama | 2 | FIC | |||
| 19 | De los álamos vengo | 3 | ||||
| 20 | En esta larga ausencia | 2 | ||||
| 21 | Fuego de Dios | 2 | Romance | FIC | Calderón de la Barca wrote a play based on this song. | |
| 22 | Gavilán que andáis de noche | 3 | Villancico | FIC | ||
| 23 | La ocasión del mal que siento | 3 | ||||
| 24 | Madre, la mi madre | 5/3 | PMA, FIC | Different versions of the words appear in works by Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, and Miguel de Cervantes (in El celoso extremeño). Composer Pedro Ruimonte also set one version to music. | ||
| 25 | La morena graciosa | 3 | ||||
| 26 | En el campo florido | 3 | ||||
| 27 | Río de Sevilla | 3 | ||||
| 28 | = No 4 | 3 | ||||
| 29 | Mal haya, quien s'enamora | 3 | ||||
| 30 | No me lo pregunte, madre | 3 | ||||
| 31 | No paséis, el caballero | 3 | ||||
| 32 | No puedo en tus ojos bellos | 2 | Villancico | FIC | ||
| 33 | No quiero contar mi pena | 4 | ||||
| 34 | Ojos no lloréis | 3 | ||||
| 35 | Horas tristes y amargas | 3 | ||||
| 36 | Salte y baile (Por dinero baila el perro) |
3 | Villancico | FIC | ||
| 37 | Señora, después que os vi | 3 | ||||
| 38 | Vay os amores | 2 | Villancico | FIC | ||
| 39 | Sobre moradas violetas | 3 | Romance | SAB | FIC | This song was composed by Juan de Palomar, with words by Catalina Zamudio. |
| 40 | Otras veces m'avéis visto | 3 | ||||
| 41 | Mi querido es ido al monte | 3 | ||||
| 42 | Puse mis cabellos | 3 | ||||
| 43 | Pensamiento, pues dizen | 3 | Canción | FIC | ||
| 44 | Era la noche más fría | 3 | ||||
| 45 | Blanda la mano | 2 | ||||
| 46 | No lloréis casada | 2 | Villancico | FIC | This is a villancico about a "badly married lady," a common theme from French and Provençal stories. | |
| 47 | = No 12 | 3 | ||||
| 48 | En el más soberbio monte | 3 | ||||
| 49 | = No 16 | 3 |
Some songs from this book can also be found in other old music collections:
- SAB - Múnich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Mus. Ms. E.200 (Cancionero de la Sablonara).
Music Recordings
You can listen to some of these old songs on modern recordings:
- 1982/1990 - [PMA] Música en la obra de Cervantes. Performed by Pro Música Antiqua de Madrid.
- 2002 - [CLA] Canciones de amor y de guerra. Performed by Clarincanto.
- 2005 - [FIC] Cancionero de Turín. Performed by Musica Ficta.
See also
In Spanish: Cancionero de Turín para niños
