Alonso Mudarra (c.1510 – April 1, 1580) was a Spanish composer and vihuelist of the Renaissance. He was an innovative composer of instrumental music as well as songs, and was one of the first composers to publish music for the guitar. 1510 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... Events March 1 - Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. ... A minstrel playing a vihuela. ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... The acoustic archtop guitar, used in Jazz music, features steel strings. ...

The place of his birth is not recorded, but he grew up in Guadalajara, and probably received his musical training there. He probably went to Italy in 1529 with Charles V, in the company of the fourth duke of the Infantado, Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana. When he returned to Spain he became a priest, receiving the post of canon at the cathedral in Seville in 1546, where he remained for the rest of his life. While at the cathedral, he directed all of the musical activities; many records remain of his musical activities there, which included hiring instrumentalists, buying and assembling a new organ, and working closely with composer Francisco Guerrero for various festivities. Mudarra died in Seville, and his sizable fortune was distributed to the poor of the city according to his will. Guadalajara is a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, capital of the province of Guadalajara. ... Events April 22 - Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297. ... Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Aragon and Castile. ... Possible portrait of the Marqués de Santillana Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana (August 19, 1398 - March 25, 1458), Castilian poet, was born at Carrión de los Condes in Old Castile. ... Seville (Spanish: Sevilla, see also different names) is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain, crossed by the river Guadalquivir (, ). It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Sevilla. ... // Events Spanish conquest of Yucatan Peace between England and France Foundation of Trinity College, Cambridge by Henry VIII of England Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg Science Architecture Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. ... Francisco Guerrero (October 4 (?), 1528 – November 8, 1599) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. ...

Mudarra wrote numerous pieces for the vihuela and the four-course guitar, the major collection being Tres libros de musica en cifras para vihuela, which he published on December 7, 1546 in Seville. These three books contain some of the first music ever published for the guitar, which was then a relatively new instrument. A minstrel playing a vihuela. ... December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Spanish conquest of Yucatan Peace between England and France Foundation of Trinity College, Cambridge by Henry VIII of England Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg Science Architecture Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. ...

Compositions represented in this publication include fantasias, variations (including a set on La Folia), tientos, pavanes and galliards, and songs. The songs are in Latin, Spanish and Italian, and include romances, canciones, villancicos, and sonnets. Another innovation he used was separate signs for different tempos: slow, medium, and fast. The fantasia (also English fantasy, German fantasie, French fantaisie) is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. ... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ... La Folia is one of the oldest European musical themes. ... Tiento is a musical form of fantasia with its origins in Renaissance Spain. ... The pavane is a processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century, whether named from an origin in Padua (padovano), from Sanskrit meaning wind, or from the stately sweep of a ladys train likened to a peacocks tail. ... The galliard (gaillarde, in French) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. ... Canción is a genre of Latin American music that was popular in the first half of the 20th century. ... Villancico (or Vilancete, in Portuguese) was a common lyric form of the Iberian Peninsula, in the Renaissance period. ... Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch, one of the best-known of the early Italian sonnet writers The term sonnet is derived from the Provençal word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning little song. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ...

References and further reading

• John Griffiths: "Alonso Mudarra", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed March 24, 2005), (subscription access)
• Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0393095304
• Guitar Music of the Sixteenth Century, Mel Bay Publications
• The Eight Masterpieces of Alonso Mudarra, Mel Bay Publications