Luis Milán

Luis Milán or Luis de Milán , also Luys Milan (* around 1500 , † around 1561 ), also known as Lluís del Milà , Lluís Milà , Luys Milán or Luys de Milán , was a Catalan Renaissance composer, vihuelist and music teacher. With El Maestro (Catalan El mestre ) he wrote an extensive work with compositions for the Vihuela .

Life

Orpheus plays a vihuela. Image from El Maestro (1536)

Luis Milán was the first composer in history to publish music for the Vihuela de mano, which was mainly popular in the Iberian Peninsula and some Italian states in the 15th and 16th centuries. He was also one of the first musicians to give text tempo indications for his music.

Presumably he lived in Valencia all his life . It seems that he was employed there at the ducal court of Germaine de Foix until around 1538 . In 1535 he published his first book on a musical board game entitled El juego de mandar . In December of the next year, he published his most important book, the Johann III., With the collection Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro , which was originally recorded in tablature . of Portugal is dedicated. This dedication and the existence of six villancicos in Portuguese suggest that Milán traveled to this country and spent some time there. One version of the story suspects Milán's trip to Portugal as the result of a duel in the course of which he was led by John III. was ennobled.

His work entitled El maestro and printed in Valencia in 1536, Libro de musica de vihuela de mano, is the first collection of vihuela music in history and was possibly intended for students of the vihuela. The music recorded as tablature is increased from easy to great difficulty, so that a beginner of the Vihuela could develop from piece to piece (the author divided the work into an easier-to-play part and one with technically more demanding pieces). It contains 41 fantasies , six pavans (including the pavans “La bella franceschina”), twelve villancicos , as well as sonetos (forms of the Italian sonnet ) and other pieces. Some pieces are for vihuela solo and others (such as Toda mi vida os ame ) and other Italian, Spanish and Portuguese songs are for vocal artfully accompanied by the vihuela. Many pieces are of considerable virtuosity, although not all of the ornamentation is detailed. The style of the compositions varies from simple homophonic to polyphonic and virtuoso passages.

In addition to unusual chromatics , there are strange double alterations that were very unusual for European music of the time. It appears that the book was created with great care. In the work, which consists of two parts with different degrees of difficulty, there are different versions for players who want to avoid virtuoso parts, areas of pieces are marked as optional and pieces are provided with tempo indications (e.g. ni muy apriessa ni muy a espacio sino con un compás bien mesurado : "neither too fast nor too slow, but with a moderate rhythm"). Half of the Villancicos are in Castilian Spanish , the other half in Portuguese.

His last publication, El cortesano (1561), modeled on Il Cortegiano ( Libro del Cortegiano ) by Baldassare Castiglione , gives a lively and entertaining picture of life at the ducal court of Valencia. Although it does not contain music, it is a valuable account of a professional musician of his time.

Publications

Libro de musica de vihuela de mano. Intitulado El maestro. Valencia 1536; Facsimile edition: Minkoff Reprint, Geneva 1975.

Literature and editions of works

Ruggero Chiesa: Luys Milán, "El Maestro". Opere complete per vihuela. Zerboni, Milan 1974 (commentary and transcription for guitar)
Luis Gásser: Luis Milán on Sixteenth-Century Performance Practice , Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis 1996
John Griffiths: Luys Milán , The New Grove, New York 2001
Ralf Jarchow: Luys Milán - El Maestro, Vol. 1–3 , Jarchow, Glinde 1995 (commentary and transcription for guitar; German and English translation of the text by Milán)
István Szabó (Ed.): Luis Milán (ca 1500 – ca. 1561): Complete Solo Works for Guitar. Complete solo works for guitar: El Maestro (1536). 2 volumes. Könemann Music, Budapest 2000 (= K. Volume 156–157), ISBN 963-9155-07-1 and ISBN 963-9155-08-X . Contains: 40 Fantasias, 6 Pavanas, 4 Tentos .
John M. Ward: The Vihuela de Mano and its Music (1536–1576) , New York 1953 (dissertation)

Web links

Sheet music and audio files by Luis Milán in the International Music Score Library Project
El Cortesano - Internet Archive
El Maestro played by Edward Martin, Magnatune
Libro de musica de vihuela de mano, intitulado El Maestro Biblioteca Nacional de España

Individual evidence

^ Luys Milán: El Maestro. Translated and edited. by Wolf Moser in the collection of historical sources series. In: Guitar & Lute. 3, 1981, 3, p. 58 f.
^ Facsimile edition: Minkoff Reprint, Geneva 1975.
↑ Ruggero Chiesa: Be pavane as "El Maestro". Zerboni, Milan.
↑ Frederick Noad: The Renaissance Guitar. (= The Frederick Noad Guitar Anthology. Part 1) Ariel Publications, New York 1974; Reprint: Amsco Publications, New York / London / Sydney, UK ISBN 0.7119.0958.X, US ISBN 0.8256.9950.9, pp. 56–60.

personal data
SURNAME	Milán, Luis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Milán, Luis de; Del Milà, Lluís; Milà, Lluís; Milán, Luys; Milán, Luis; Milán, Luys de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Catalan Renaissance composer, vihuelist and music educator
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1500
DATE OF DEATH	around 1561

[1] Luys Milán: El Maestro. Translated and edited. by Wolf Moser in the collection of historical sources series. In: Guitar & Lute. 3, 1981, 3, p. 58 f.

[2] Facsimile edition: Minkoff Reprint, Geneva 1975.

[3] Ruggero Chiesa: Be pavane as "El Maestro". Zerboni, Milan.

[4] Frederick Noad: The Renaissance Guitar. (= The Frederick Noad Guitar Anthology. Part 1) Ariel Publications, New York 1974; Reprint: Amsco Publications, New York / London / Sydney, UK ISBN 0.7119.0958.X, US ISBN 0.8256.9950.9, pp. 56–60.