Luis de Narváez (c. 1526 – 1549) was a Spanish
composer and vihuelist. Highly regarded during his
lifetime, Narváez is known today for Los seys libros
del delphín, a collection of polyphonic music for the
vihuela which includes the earliest known variation
sets. He is also notable for being the earliest
composer for vihuela to adapt the contemporary Italian
style of lute music.
The exact date or even year of Narváez's birth is
unknown. He was born in Granada and the earliest
survi...(+)
Luis de Narváez (c. 1526 – 1549) was a Spanish
composer and vihuelist. Highly regarded during his
lifetime, Narváez is known today for Los seys libros
del delphín, a collection of polyphonic music for the
vihuela which includes the earliest known variation
sets. He is also notable for being the earliest
composer for vihuela to adapt the contemporary Italian
style of lute music.
The exact date or even year of Narváez's birth is
unknown. He was born in Granada and the earliest
surviving references to him indicate that as early as
1526 he was a member of the household of Francisco de
los Cobos y Molina, a well-known and very successful
patron of the arts who was the Secretary of State and
commentator for the kingdom of Castile under Charles V.
Narváez lived in Valladolid with his patron until the
latter's death in 1547, although he was working for the
Duke of Medina Sidonia between 1539 and 1540. It was
during this period that the composer published Los seys
librosdel delphín (Valladolid, 1538), a large
collection of music.
By 1548 Narváez was employed as musician of the royal
chapel, where he also taught music to choristers. His
colleagues there included the famous keyboard composer
Antonio de Cabezón. Narváez and Cabezón were both
employed as musicians for Felipe, Regent of Spain
(later Philip II of Spain), and accompanied him on his
many journeys. The last reference to Narváez is from
one such journey: during the winter of 1549 he resided
in the Low Countries.
Narváez was very highly regarded during his lifetime,
particularly for his vihuela playing; he was reported
to be able to improvise four parts over another four at
sight. His son Andrés also became an accomplished
vihuelist. Narváez's most important surviving music is
contained in Los seys libros del Delphin de música de
cifras para tañer vihuela (Valladolid, 1538), a
six-volume collection of music for vihuela.
This piece was arranged in the sixteenth century for
the vihuela, an ancestor of the guitar, tuned the same
as the guitar except the third string is tuned to
F♯ instead of G. His work is published in Los
seys libros del Delphín (1538) and consists of a set
of variations on a Spanish folk theme from the
Biblioteca Nacional de España.
There is some debate over whether the full composition
consists of four or seven variations. The title of the
work, Quatro diferencias sobre Guárdame las vacas,
indicates it consists of four variations. Confusion
arises because immediately following work in the
original manuscript, Otras tres diferencias hechas por
otra parte, is not listed on the title page or index.
Instead, the title page refers to siete diferencias de
guarda me las vacas. After the first four variations,
the index refers to La primera diferencia de guarda me
las vacas por otra parte. For a full discussion of the
issue see “Luis Narváez, Guárdame las vacas, and
the “otra parte””, Nelson Amos, GFA Soundboard,
Vol. 27, No. 1(Summer 2000), pp. 21-25.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_de_Narv%C3%A1ez).
Although originally composed for vihuela, I created
this Interpretation of the Diferencias sobre 'Guárdame
las vacas' from "Los seys libros del Delphin de música
de cifras para tañer vihuela" for Classical Guitar.
SHEET MUSIC