Tomás Luis de Victoria
The dominating figure of sixteenth century Spanish music, Tomás Luis de Victoria was born in Avila. He was sent to Rome to study, possibly for a time under Palestrina during the latter's years at the Roman Seminary. In 1571 he succeeded Palestrina there as choirmaster, a post he also subsequently occupied at the Jesuit Order's German College. Later he became active as a priest, working at St. Girolamo della Carità. Following his return to Spain in 1585, Victoria served the Empress Maria and her daughter as teacher, organist, and choirmaster until his death in 1611.
By the time Victoria arrived in Rome, the conservative ecclesiastical establishment and the Council of Trent had ensured that any musical hint of the "lascivious or the impure" was largely banished (Palestrina was even moved to dismiss his publication of secular madrigals as a youthful peccadillo). It is therefore not surprising to find that Victoria's output consists solely of religious music that eschews even the use of secular cantus firmus, and that displays the formal perfection and the well-smoothed vocal writing of the Palestrina style. What is surprising is that despite his Roman training and years of service in the city, Victoria so strongly retained his Spanish roots. Some of his finest works were composed after his return home, and many of them contain features that seem to epitomize the deeply mystical approach of so much Spanish Renaissance music. Comparison with Palestrina reveals a greater emphasis on chromatic color and use of dynamic contrast; Victoria's block harmonies and multiple choirs look forward to the Baroque. His response to words is acute and highly personal, a characteristic particularly suited to the comparatively dynamic and plastic form of the motet and to other texts which allow full rein to subjective treatment. Of Victoria's 44 motets, the early four-part O quam gloriosum can perhaps be allowed a special mention, since it is pervaded by a youthful vigor and joyous radiance that gives lie to the understandable impression that Spanish Renaissance composers were preoccupied with somber religious subjects. His widely performed Christmas motet, O magnum mysterium, exudes a quiet sense of wonder. Victoria's fame as a motet composer has tended to overshadow his masses, yet at their finest, as in the lovely Missa Ave maris stella, they are not inferior to those of Palestrina.
To discover Victoria at his greatest, however, one must ultimately return to the darker side, and in particular to the two works by which he is best known, the Tenebrae Responsories (first published in 1585) and the Requiem of 1605, a work of timeless serenity. The former is a setting of 18 pieces that adhere to the traditional form of the responsory, with its alternation of verse and refrain. The work takes us through the Passion story in music that relies not so much on the drama of the events themselves as on a quite extraordinarily direct and profound response to the text, a response frequently achieved by means of the greatest simplicity, or, perhaps more accurately, apparent simplicity.
© TiVo
-
Victoria: Requiem Mass, 1605
Classical - Released by Signum Records on Mar 28, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victoria Requiem 1605
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Classical - Released by CORO on Aug 1, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Canticum Nativitatis Domini (Capella de Ministrers - L'Almodi Cor de Cambra - Carles Magraner)
Capella De Ministrers, Carles Magraner
Classical - Released by CDM on May 18, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Mystery Of The Cross
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Classical - Released by CORO on Mar 17, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Devotion to Our Lady
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Classical - Released by CORO on Jun 16, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Call of the Beloved
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Classical - Released by CORO on Jul 20, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victoria: Requiem
Classical - Released by Deux-Elles Limited on Mar 7, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Requiem: Officium Defunctorum. 1605
Capella De Ministrers, Carles Magraner
Chamber Music - Released by CDM on Sep 21, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anima: Victoria, Gesualdo and Ruiz del Corral Reworked for String Orchestra
Varanus Ensemble, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Carlo Gesualdo, Manuel Ruiz Del Corral
Classical - Released by Novus Promusica on May 7, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tomás Luis de Victoria: Missa Gaudeamus
Musica Ficta, Raúl Mallavibarrena
Classical - Released by Audiovisuals de Sarrià, SL. on Feb 26, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Guillaume de Machaut: Messe de Nostre Dame
Vienna Vocal Consort, Jacobus Gallus, Guillaume de Machaut, Pierre de La Rue, Palestrina, Tomás Luis de Victoria
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on Aug 25, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Love Of My Soul
Classical - Released by Albany Records on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tomás Luis de Victoria: Requiem
Classical - Released by VDE-GALLO on Jan 28, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Semana Santa en la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (Remastered)
Schola Cantorum de la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas
Classical - Released by Homokord on Oct 25, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Tomas Luis de Victoria
Coro del Conservatorio de Música de Morón
Classical - Released by Irco Video on Jul 12, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Responsorios (Remastered)
Schola Cantorum de la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas
Classical - Released by Homokord on May 15, 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Música Imperial - Música Sacra Durante el Reinado de Felipe II
Classical - Released by Àudiovisuals de Sarrià on Feb 10, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -