Juan Bermudo
Juan Bermudo OFM (* around 1510 in Écija , Seville Province , Andalusia , † around 1565) was a Spanish Franciscan minorite, music theorist and composer of the Renaissance .
Live and act
Juan Bermudo came from a wealthy family. Although little is known about his life, it is known that he entered the Minorite Order (part of the Franciscan Order ) in 1525 ; there he temporarily held the office of guardian and preacher. From there he went to study mathematics at the University of Alcalá de Hénarèscleverly; here he should have received basic musical training as part of his studies. During his time as a preacher, Bermudo viewed music as a minor matter. However, a prolonged illness forced him to give up his religious offices; During his recovery he studied various manuscripts on music theory and during this time he developed his previously unexercised musical skills.
Bermudo mentions in the fifth book of his main work ( Declaratión de instrumentos musicales ) a visit to the Cathedral of Toledo during the tenure of Cardinal Alonso de Fonseca (1524–1534) and the improvised polyphony ( contrapunto concertado ) of the singers there, which was impressive for him . There is also an account of his trip to Granada , where he discussed the contents of the first book of his major work with Bernardino de Figueroa († 1571), head of the royal chapel. Bernardino also wrote letters of recommendation for this issue. In addition, during Lent in 1550, Bermudo stayed in Montilla (Andalusia) and preached in the local Poor Clare monastery; the abbess of this monastery, Isabel Pacheco , is dedicated to the treatise Arte tripharia , published in the same year . On June 24th, 1560 in Baeza he was elected by his confreres to one of the four definidores of the Andalusian order province; but apparently he only survived this event for a short time. The time and place of his death are not known.
meaning
Bermudo's main work, the aforementioned Declaratión in five books, is of great musical historical importance . In 1549 the first book appeared, King John III. was dedicated by Portugal ; here he deals with the praise of music. In 1550 an excerpt from the later second book appeared under the name Arte tripharia , a textbook with an introduction to singing in one and more voices and four chapters on the instrumental practice of the clavichord and vihuela . Books III to V appeared in print together with the first two books in 1555. The third book deals with important music theory aspects of definitions, notation and proportions. The fourth book deals with the structural peculiarities, the playing technique, the tuning and the ornamentation practice of keyboard instruments and vihuela, together with questions of intabulation on the clavichord and modal transposition . The fifth book contains a doctrine of the church modes , the composition of monophonic music as well as counterpoint and polyphony, the beginning of this book containing an epistola by the Andalusian composer Cristóbal de Morales (1500–1553), dated October 20, 1550. According to his own Bermudo wanted to follow up with two more books, in which he wanted to critically deal with the mistakes of 14 other music theorists, furthermore to discuss different tone types (diatonic, enharmonic, chromatic and semi-chromatic) and to describe the tuning and playing technique of new instruments that he had designed himself.
Bermudo's main work is largely based on older and contemporary writings and provides a comprehensive and informative presentation of the vocal and instrumental practice of the 16th century, which combines general music theory with valuable explanations on numerous musical instruments.
Works
- Treatises
- Music for Vihuela
- Mira nera de Tarpeya
- Music for organ
- Conditor alme siderum
- Ave maris stella
- Vexilla regis prodeunt to five votes
Literature (selection)
- V. Cl. Bushnell: "The Declaratión de instrumentos musicales" by Fray Juan Bermudo , Master's thesis Rochester / New York 1960
- RM Stevenson: Juan Bermudo , biography, The Hague 1960
- Willi Apel: History of organ and piano music up to 1700 , Kassel 1967
- MA Ester Sala: La ornamentación en la música de tecla ibérica del siglo XVI , Madrid 1980
- A. Corona-Alcalde: Fray Juan Bermudo and His Seven Vihuelas in the magazine Lute No. 24, 1984, pages 77 to 86
- C. Hermosillo: Juan Bermudo's "Statement on Musical Instruments" , Master's thesis San Jose / California 1985
- MT Annoni: Tuning, Temperament and Pedagogy for the Vihuela in Juan Bermudo's "Declaratión de instrumentos musicales" , Dissertation Ohio / USA 1989
- FJ Léon Tello: Estudios de historia de la teoría musical , Madrid 1991
- C. Johnson: Spain, 1550-1830 in An Historial Survey of Organ Performance Practices and Repertoire No. 1, edited by W. Leupold, Boston / USA 1994
- P. Otaola: Instrumento perfecto y sistemas armónicos microtonales en el siglo XVI: Bermudo, Vicentino y Salinas in the journal Anuario musical No. 49, 1994, pages 127 to 157
- W. Freis: Becoming a Theorist: the Growth of the Bermudo's "Declaratión de instrumentos musicales" in the magazine Revista de musicología No. 18, 1995, pages 27 to 112
- W. Freis: Perfecting the Perfect Instrument: Fray Juan Bermudo on the Tuning and Temperament of the "vihuela de mano" in the journal Early Music No. 23, 1995, pages 421 to 435
- Otaola González: Tradición modernidad en los escritos musicales de Juan Bermudo , Paloma 2000, Edition Reichenberger, Kassel, ISBN 3-931887-93-6
Web links
swell
- ↑ The music in past and present (MGG), Volume 2, Bärenreiter Verlag Kassel and Basel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1112-8
- ^ Honegger / Massenkeil, The Great Lexicon of Music, Volume 1, Herder Verlag Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, ISBN 3-451-18051-0
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bermudo, Juan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish music theorist and composer of the Renaissance |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1510 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Écija , Seville Province , Andalusia |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1565 |