Vicente Lusitano

Vicente Lusitano C. 1520 – C. 1561 Was A Portuguese Composer And Theorist Of The Late Renaissance. He Was Possibly Of African Descent And Has A Claim To Being The First Published Black Composer. Lusitano Which Means "Portuguese" Appears To Be A Nickname Rather Than A Family Name. He Was Born In Olivença But Little Else Is Known For Certain Of His Life Including The Dates Of His Birth And Death. Some Information Is Recorded In The 18th Century Biography By Diogo Barbosa Machado He Came From Olivença Became A Priest And Was Employed As A Teacher Both At Padua And Viterbo. Very Little Of What Machado Wrote About Him Has Been Verified By Any Other Source Except The Date Of Publication 1561 Of A Music Theory Treatise At Venice. He Wrote A Number Of Choral Works Including Latin Motets Published As Liber Primus Epigramatum Que Vulgo Motetta Dicuntur 5 6 8vv Rome 1551 And A Madrigal. In Several Works He References Josquin Des Prez Who Had Died 30 Years Before. For Example He Reworked Des Prez' Motet Inviolata Integra For More Voices. Lusitano's Music Has Been Revived In Recent Years For Example By The Marian Consort. Before The Revival He Was Better Remembered For His Work As A Theorist. In A 1551 Debate In Rome He Espoused Traditional Views On The Role Of The Three Genera In Music Diatonic Chromatic And Enharmonic Over More Radical Ones Put Forward By Nicola Vicentino Lusitano Was Deemed To Have Won The Debate . His Introduttione Facilissima Et Novissima Di Canto Fermo Figurato Contraponto Semplice Et Inconcerto Rome 1553 And Again At Venice 1561 Contains An Introduction To Music A Section On Improvised Counterpoint Setting New Parts Above Or Below A Cantus Firmus And His Views On The Three Genera. read less