Alonso Mudarra's Biography

Alonso Mudarra was born in 1510 and was one of the most important Spanish vihuelists of the Renaissance period. He was an innovative composer of instrumental music as well as songs, and was the composer of the earliest surviving music for the guitar.

There is not much known about his birthplace but he grew in Guadalajara and most probably received his musical education there. He 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. Returning to Spain, Mudarra 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 wrote a multitude of pieces for the vihuela and the four-course guitar, all contained in the collection Tres libros de musica en cifras para vihuela, which he published on December 7, 1546 in Seville. The three books contain the first music ever published for the four-course guitar, which was then a relatively new instrument. The second book is noteworthy in that it contains eight multi-movement works, all arranged by "tono", or mode. Some of the compositions represented in this publication include fantasias, variations (including a set on La Folia), tientos, pavanes, galliards, and songs.

His most known pieces by modern listeners is Fantasia X, which has been a concert and recording mainstay for the last couple of decades. The songs are written in Latin, Spanish and Italian, and include romances, canciones, villancicos, and sonnets. Another innovation that Mudarra came up with was the use of separate signs for different tempos: slow, medium, and fast.

He died in Seville, and his sizable fortune was distributed to the poor of the city according to his will.