Francisco Guerrero
Guerrero was one of the two great Spanish composers of his generation, second only to Tomás Luis de Victoria. His first music teachers included his brother Pedro and Cristóbal de Morales, but the prodigious young musician trained himself on a number of instruments -- the vihuela, harp, cornett, and organ -- and seems to have become an exceptional singer. His first important job was as a boy singer in the Seville Cathedral, where he stayed until 1546, when he was appointed maestro di cappella of the Jaén Cathedral, aged only 17. Among his duties was teaching and caring for six choirboys. His utter neglect of those boys almost cost him his enviable position, but that black mark on his record didn't slow his career. By the early 1550s, he was gaining his reputation as a composer and this apparently made him valuable enough that he was treated very leniently, even fought over by potential employers. He visited Seville in 1549, where he was slyly offered a prebend as a singer, and so he didn't return to his post in Jaén. In the early 1550s, the Málaga Cathedral twice tried to reel him in with offers to make him maestro di cappella, to which the Seville Cathedral successfully retaliated by obtaining for him, in 1554, a papal brief that made him the successor to their own maestro, Pedro Fernández. Obviously a man with a travel bug, aside from publishing numerous collections of music, Guerrero traveled almost continuously throughout his life from this point on. On March 9, 1574, he finally succeeded Fernández, but this didn't impede his travels. In 1579, he was given a year's leave of absence to see Rome and set out until 1581, when two collections of his music that he'd been preparing were at last ready. He returned to Seville in late 1582/early 1583. Guerrero's restless traveling reached its zenith in 1588, when he got as far south as Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Damascus. On January 9, 1589, presumably inspired by his visit to the Holy Land, he arrived back in Venice, where he spent several weeks preparing his second book of motets and his Canciones y villanescas espirituales for publication. At this time, he must have also begun writing his popular book about his trip to the Holy Land, which was published the following year. His next move, however, set off a terrible chain reaction of events that seem sadly ironic in light of his early professional wantonness. He set sail for Marseilles and during the passage, the ship he was on was boarded twice by pirates, who exacted ransom from Guerrero for his life. The robberies, coupled with the costs of his publishing ventures, left him close to destitute. Poverty forced him to take responsibility for the choirboys again, something he hadn't done in more than 40 years. At his age, he couldn't cope and he was thrown into debtors' prison on August 21. Eleven days later, the Seville Cathedral bought him his freedom for 280 ducats, to be paid to his creditors. In January 1599, the Cathedral granted him leave to revisit the Holy Land. Guerrero was never to see his beloved Jerusalem again; he died of the plague in Seville later that year.
© TiVo
Similar artists
Discography
19 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Flight of Angels (Francisco Guerrero - Alonso Lobo)
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Classical - Released by Coro on Feb 2, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
'Yo te quiere matare' - Ministriles en Granada en el S. XVI
Classical - Released by Lindoro on Jan 10, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Francisco Guerrero: Villanescas I
Ensemble Fontegara, Musica Ficta, Raúl Mallavibarrena
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Audiovisuals de Sarrià, SL. on Mar 5, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ojos Claros y Serenos
Classical - Released by Arsis Aclass on Nov 15, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tota Pulchra Es
Classical - Released by Arsis Aclass on Oct 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ave Virgo Sanctissima (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on May 5, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beata Dei Genitrix Maria (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Jun 2, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ave Maria, a 8 (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Oct 2, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Accepit Iesus panes (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Sep 2, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alma Redemptoris mater ² (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Mar 2, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ave Maria, a 4. (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Dec 2, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pater Noster (En Vivo)
Classical - Released by Cantus on Oct 19, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Polifonía de Semana Santa (Remastered)
Coros de Radio Nacional de España
Classical - Released by Homokord on Mar 15, 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beatus Achacius (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Aug 2, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Al resplandor d'una estrella ³ (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Apr 2, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ascendens Christus (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Jan 2, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beatus es (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Jul 2, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ave Regina coelorum ² (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Nov 2, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ambulans Iesus (Francisco Guerrero, Medieval music, Piano classic)
Classical - Released by Ars Classica on Feb 2, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo