VICTORIA, Tomas Luis de

(1548-1611)

Tomas Luis de Victoria was the greatest Spanish composer of the Renais­sance. In his life and works, the ideals of the Catholic Reformation found their quintessential musical expression.

Victoria was born in Avila and received his early musical training there as a choirboy in the cathedral. After his voice broke, he was sent to the Jesuit German College in Rome, where he doubtless came into contact with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina,* who was at that time choirmaster of the nearby Roman Seminary. In 1569 he accepted a part-time position as singer and organist at the Church of S. Maria di Monserrato, and from 1571 he taught music at the German College, where he also served as choirmaster from 1575 to 1577. He entered the priesthood in 1575, and from 1578 until 1585 he held a nonmusical position as chaplain at S. Girolamo della Carita, the church where St. Philip Neri* held his famous religious meetings. With the support of five Spanish benefices con­ferred by Pope Gregory XIII, he now devoted himself to his priestly duties and charitable works, serving in 1583-84, for example, as visitor of the sick for the Spanish Archconfraternity of the Resurrection. But it was also during these years that he published five deluxe folio editions of his music. In the dedication of his 1583 mass book to Philip II,* Victoria expressed his desire to return to Spain. In response, Philip named him chaplain to his sister, the dowager empress Maria, at the Convento de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Following the em­press's death in 1603, Victoria remained at the convent, serving as maestro of the choir until 1604 and organist until his own death in 1611.

Victoria's compositions include about fifty motets and over twenty masses in addition to magnificats, hymns, and other liturgical pieces. He wrote only Latin sacred music, and his output, compared to that of William Byrd,* Orlando di Lasso,* or Palestrina, is both small and limited in scope. But in technical re­finement and expressive power, he was unsurpassed. In the dramatic intensity of his music, moreover, modern critics have heard a parallel to the spiritual fervor and mysticism of Spanish contemporaries such as El Greco* and St. Teresa of Avila.*

Bibliography

R. Stevenson, "Tomas Luis de Victoria (ca. 1548-1611): Unique Spanish Genius," Inter-American Music Review 12 (1991): 1-100.

David Crook