Cancionero de Upsala facts for kids
The Cancionero de Upsala is a special music book printed way back in 1556 in Venice, Italy. It's like a collection of popular songs from that time, mostly by unknown composers. The book's full title is quite long: Villancicos de diversos Autores, a dos, y a tres, y a quatro, y a cinco bozes, agora nuevamente corregidos. Ay mas ocho tonos de Canto llano, y ocho tonos de Canto de Organo para que puedan aprovechar los que A cantar començaren. Venetiis, Apud Hieronymum Scotum, MDLVI. This basically means "Villancicos by different authors, for two, three, four, and five voices, newly corrected. Also, eight plainchant tones and eight organ tones for those starting to sing."
Today, there's only one copy of this rare book left. You can find it at the Uppsala University Library in Sweden. That's why it's called the "Cancionero de Upsala"! A man named Rafael Mitjana edited it in 1909, and since then, people have used the spelling "Upsala," which was the old Swedish way to spell "Uppsala."
What's Inside the Cancionero?
This music book is filled with different types of songs called villancicos. A villancico was a popular kind of Spanish song during the Renaissance period. They often told stories or were about everyday life. The Cancionero de Upsala has 48 villancicos in total.
Songs for Different Voices
The songs in the book are grouped by how many singers they need. This means some songs are for two voices, some for three, some for four, and some for five.
- Villancicos for two voices: There are 12 songs in this section. Many of them are by unknown composers.
- Villancicos for three voices: This part has 12 songs. Some famous composers like Cristóbal de Morales and Mateo Flecha el Viejo have songs here.
- Villancicos for four voices: You'll find 12 songs in this section. Again, many are by unknown composers, but some might be by Francisco Guerrero or Juan del Encina.
- Christmas Villancicos for four voices: This special section has 10 songs specifically for Christmas. One very famous song from this part is "Ríu Ríu Chíu" by Mateo Flecha el Viejo.
- Christmas Villancicos for three voices: There are two Christmas songs for three voices in the collection.
- Villancicos for five voices: The book ends with six songs for five voices. Some of these are by Nicolas Gombert and Mateo Flecha el Viejo.
This collection gives us a great look into the music people enjoyed in Spain during the 1500s!
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