Gaspar Fernandes facts for kids
Gaspar Fernandes (sometimes called Gaspar Fernández) (1566–1629) was a talented Portuguese-Mexican composer and organist. He worked in big churches (cathedrals) in places like Santiago de Guatemala (now Antigua Guatemala) and Puebla de los Ángeles, which was part of New Spain (now Mexico).
His Life Story
Most experts believe that Gaspar Fernandes, who sang in the cathedral of Évora, Portugal, was the same person who became the organist in Santiago de Guatemala on July 16, 1599. He also helped tune the organs there.
In 1606, important people from the cathedral in Puebla asked him to come work for them. They wanted him to take over as the main music director (chapel master) after his friend Pedro Bermúdez passed away. Gaspar Fernandes left Santiago de Guatemala on July 12, 1606. He started his new job in Puebla on September 15 of that year. He stayed there, making music, until he died in 1629.
His Music and Work
One of Gaspar Fernandes's most important contributions was gathering and binding many choir books in 1602. These books contained special Roman Catholic church music called polyphony, which means music with several independent voice parts. Many of these old books are still in Guatemala today.
These books included music by famous Spanish composers like Francisco Guerrero, Cristóbal de Morales, and Pedro Bermúdez. Pedro Bermúdez was with Fernandes in the Guatemala cathedral at the time. To complete these books, Fernandes wrote a series of 8 Benedicamus Domino pieces. This is a short song that comes after the Magnificat (a prayer) during evening church services (called vespers) and some Masses. Each of his pieces used one of the 8 main church musical styles, called modes.
He also added his own version of the Magnificat in the fifth mode. He wrote some faux bordon parts (simple harmonies without words) and a vespers hymn for the Feast of the Guardian Angels.
While he was working in Puebla, Gaspar Fernandes focused less on Latin church music. Instead, he wrote many villancicos for morning church services (called matins). Villancicos were popular songs, often with a folk-like style.
His villancicos show a lot of creativity in how he used words. Many were in Spanish. But he also wrote some in sounds that sounded like African languages, and even in Amerindian languages. Sometimes, he used Portuguese. One of his most famous villancicos is "Xicochi." It's special because it uses Nahuatl, which is the language of the native Nahua people.
His music started to move away from the older 16th-century style called counterpoint. Instead, it began to show the new baroque style, which focused more on expressing the feelings and meaning of the words. The main collection of these villancicos is found in the Oaxaca Codex. Music experts like Robert Stevenson and Aurelio Tello have studied, edited, and published this music.
