Juan Esquivel Barahona facts for kids
Juan de Esquivel Barahona (born around 1560 – died after 1623) was a very important Spanish composer from the end of the Renaissance period. He wrote music for churches. Even though he never worked in the biggest cathedrals in Spain, his music was well-known across the country in the early 1600s.
His Early Life and Career
Juan de Esquivel was born in or near Ciudad Rodrigo, an old city with a cathedral in Spain. He started singing in the cathedral choir in 1568 when he was just a boy. People say he learned music from Juan Navarro, who was the choirmaster there when Juan was young.
In 1581, Juan got his first job as a maestro de capilla (which means choirmaster). This was in Oviedo, a city in northern Spain. He left that job in 1585 and became choirmaster at Calahorra Cathedral in La Rioja. In 1591, he went back to Ciudad Rodrigo to be the choirmaster there. He stayed in this job until he died.
His Amazing Music
Esquivel only wrote sacred music, which is music for church services. We know about his music from three books that were printed in Salamanca in the early 1600s. There was also a fourth book mentioned, but no copies of it have been found.
When Esquivel started his career, Spanish churches were beginning to follow new rules for their services from the Council of Trent. These rules wanted church music to be clear and not too long. Esquivel's music shows how he tried to mix the old Spanish music styles with these new ideas. This is especially true in his motets, which are some of the shortest pieces of their kind.
Other famous composers like Cristóbal de Morales and Francisco Guerrero influenced Esquivel. You can also sometimes hear the influence of his teacher, Navarro. Esquivel admired Guerrero so much that he used some of Guerrero's motets to create his own parody masses. Esquivel was also happy to set words to music even if another composer had already made a famous piece using those same words.
Esquivel's polyphonic music (music with many different voice parts) has clear and short melodies. Sometimes he used unusual notes or had voices move in parallel, which means they moved in the same direction at the same time. His music sounds a bit like the music from Portugal during his time.
See also
In Spanish: Juan Esquivel de Barahona para niños
