En Busca De Liberalidad: Music and Musicians in the Courts of the Spanish Nobility, 1470--1640

Abstract

Though their patronal practices varied considerably, certain commonalities emerge. Courts generally maintained small musical organizations that could be augmented with additional personnel for particularly significant occasions, and founded musical establishments in collegiate churches and monasteries that functioned independently when service to the empire required prolonged absences of patrons from their domains. Their musicians were primarily locally recruited talents; many noted musicians and composers of Spain may have served in noble courts early in their careers, or received a musical education under their patronage. Few specific demands for new compositions were made upon musicians, though such activities were encouraged through various means. This pattern, favoring local musicians and creative independence, contributed substantially to the cultivation and preservation of diverse and indigenous musical styles and genres, such as the ensalada, tono, and sacred villancico.