Life
Alonso Mudarra was a Spanish composer and vihuelist of the Renaissance, born around 1510 and raised in Guadalajara. He likely travelled to Italy in 1529 in the retinue of the Duke of the Infantado before returning to Spain, where he became a priest and, from 1546, canon of Seville Cathedral, directing its musical life until his death on 1 April 1580. In 1546 he published Tres libros de música en cifras para vihuela, which contains fantasias, variations, pavanes, and songs for vihuela as well as the earliest surviving printed music for the four-course guitar. Alonso Mudarra left his considerable fortune to the poor of Seville.
Impact
Alonso Mudarra’s Tres libros de música en cifras para vihuela is celebrated for its harmonic daring and expressive range, particularly the famous Fantasia X, which imitates the harp playing of the Italian virtuoso Ludovico. As the composer of the earliest known music for the four-course guitar, he stands at the origin of the guitar’s written repertoire, and his blend of Spanish, Italian, and Latin song settings broadened the vihuela’s expressive and stylistic scope.
Repertoire
Fantasía X (“que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Ludovico”), 1546
Mudarra’s most celebrated fantasia, famous for imitating the cascading arpeggiated texture of a harp.
Alonso MUDARRA Fantasía que contrahaze la arpa en la manera de Ludovico – Michel Pérez Rizzi, guitarra — Performed by Michel Pérez Rizzi
Mudarra | Fantasia X “que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Ludovico” [Arianna Savall] — Performed by Arianna Savall
Romanesca (“O guárdame las vacas”), 1546
A set of variations on the Romanesca bass pattern, also known by its Spanish refrain “Guárdame las vacas.”
Romanesca “Guardame las vacas” – Alonso Mudarra – Eduardo Egüez, vihuela — Performed by Eduardo Egüez
Romanesca o ‘Guardame las vacas’ (Alonso Mudarra) — Performed by Stjepan Tafra