Juan del Encina

Juan de la Encina (1469 – c. 1533), a composer, poet and playwriter, often called the founder of Spanish drama, was born in 1469 near Salamanca, probably at [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encina_de_San_Silvestre Encina de San Silvestre] . He was of Jewish converso descent. [See, Norman Roth, "Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain", Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1995, pp. 157, 176-178.] After leaving the University of Salamanca sometime in the early 1490s he became a member of the household of Don Fadrique de Toledo, the second Duke of Alba.

In 1492 the poet entertained his patron with a dramatic piece, the "Triunfo de la fama", written to commemorate the fall of Granada. In 1496 he published his "Cancionero", a collection of dramatic and lyrical poems. Around 1500 he relocated to Rome, where he apparently served in the musical establishments of several cardinals or noblemen.

About 1518 Encina took holy orders, and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he said his first mass. Since 1509 he had held a lay canonry at Málaga; in 1519 he was appointed prior of León and is said to have died at Salamanca about 1533.

His "Cancionero" is preceded by a prose treatise ("Arte de trobar") on the condition of the poetic art in Spain. His fourteen dramatic pieces mark the transition from the purely ecclesiastical to the secular stage. The "Aucto del Repelón" and the "Égloga de Fileno" dramatize the adventures of shepherds; the latter, like "Pládcida y Vitoriano", is strongly influenced by the "Celestina". The intrinsic interest of Encina's plays is slight, but they are important from the historical point of view, for the lay pieces form a new departure, and the devout eclogues prepare the way for the "autos" of the 17th century. Moreover, Encina's lyrical poems are remarkable for their intense sincerity and devout grace.

elected works

*"Triunfo de la fama" (1492)
*"Cancionero" (1496)
*"Tan buen ganadico" (1496)
*"Más vale trocar" (1496)
*"Triste España sin ventura" (1504)
*"Plácida y Victoriano" (1513)
*"Églogas"

Notes

Bibliography

*"Teatro completo de Juan del Encina" (Madrid, 1893), edited by F. Asenjo Barbieri
*"Cancionero musical de los siglos XV y XVI" (Madrid, 1894), edited by F. Asenjo Barbieri
*R. Mitjana, "Sobre Juan del Encina, musico y poeta" (Mlaga, 1895)
*M. Menendez y Pelayo, "Antologia de poetas liricos castellanos" (Madrid, 1890-1903), Vol. VII.
*1911

External links

*ChoralWiki
*WIMA|idx=Encina|name=Juan del Encina
*Listen to [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/early/IVL_Encina_Juan%20del.html free recordings of songs] from [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/indexENG.html Umeå Akademiska Kör] .