Pedro de Escobar (c.1465 – after 1535), a.k.a. Pedro do Porto, was a Portuguese composer of the Renaissance, mostly active in Spain. He was one of the earliest and most skilled composers of polyphony in Spain whose music has survived. Events July 13 - Battle of Montlhéry Troops of King Louis XI of France fight inconclusively against an army of the great nobles organized as the League of the Public Weal. ... Events January 18 - Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro April - Jacques Cartier discovers the Iroquois city of Stadacona, Canada (now Quebec) and in May, the even greater Huron city of Hochelaga June 24 - The Anabaptist state of Münster (see Münster Rebellion) is conquered and disbanded. ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ...

Life

He was born at Oporto, Portugal, but nothing is known of his life until he entered the service of Isabella of Castile in 1489. He was a singer in her chapel for ten years, and clearly was working as a composer as well; in addition he was the only member of her chapel described in court records as Portuguese. In 1499 he returned to his native Portugal, but in 1507 received an offer of employment, which he accepted, as the maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Seville. A modern view of the ancient city of Porto, the city that gave the name to the country. ... Isabella of Castile Isabella (April 22, 1451 – November 26, 1504) was Queen regnant of Castile and Leon. ... Events March 14 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. ... 1499 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1507 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Seville (disambiguation). ...

While there he had charge of the choirboys, having to take care of their room and board in addition to having to teach them to sing; he complained of low pay, and eventually resigned. In 1521 he was working in Portugal, as mestre da capela for Cardinal Dom Affonso. His career seems to have ended badly, however, for the final record of his life is a mention in a document of 1535 that he was an alcoholic and living in squalor. He died in Évora. Events January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ... Events January 18 - Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro April - Jacques Cartier discovers the Iroquois city of Stadacona, Canada (now Quebec) and in May, the even greater Huron city of Hochelaga June 24 - The Anabaptist state of Münster (see Münster Rebellion) is conquered and disbanded. ... Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Alentejo  - Subregion Alentejo Central  - District or A.R. Évora Mayor Ernesto Oliveira  - Party PS Area 1,307. ...

Music and influence

Two complete masses of Escobar have survived, including a Requiem (Missa pro defunctis), the earliest by a composer from the Iberian peninsula. He also wrote a setting of the Magnificat, 7 motets (including one Stabat Mater), 4 antiphons, 8 hymns, and 18 villancicos. His music was popular, as attested by the appearance of copies in far-off places; for example native scribes copied two of his manuscripts in Guatemala. His motet Clamabat autem mulier Cananea was particularly praised by his contemporaries, and served as the source for instrumental pieces by later composers. The Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known formally (in Latin) as the Missa pro defunctis or Missa defunctorum, is a liturgical service of the Roman Catholic Church and, in a wholly different ritual form, the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... The Visitation in the Book of Hours of the Duc of Berry The Magnificat (also known as the Song of Mary) is a canticle frequently sung (or said) liturgically in Christian church services. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... Mater dolorosa became an iconic type, as in this sixteenth-century Spanish version by Luis de Morales (c. ... This article is about the musical term. ... A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a god or other religiously significant figure. ... Villancico (or Vilancete, in Portuguese) was a common lyric form of the Iberian Peninsula, in the Renaissance period. ...

References and further reading

• Robert Stevenson. "Escobar, Pedro de", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 1980), vi, 243-244.
• ____. "Escobar, Pedro de", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed January 14, 2005), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
• Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4