Francisco Correa de Arauxo
Encyclopedia
Francisco Correa de Araujo (b. Seville, 1584; d. Segovia, 1654) was a notable Spanish organist, composer, and theorist of the late Renaissance.

Life

Like most Spanish organists from this era, details of Correa de Araujo's life are clouded by obscurity. For some time even the years of his birth and death were disputed. His musical background is unclear; he claimed to have learned theory by studying the works of Francisco de Peraza and Diego del Castillo. In 1599 he received an organ appointment in Seville, but became embroiled in a lawsuit with rival Juan Picafort, which delayed confirmation of this appointment for six years. In 1608, he was ordained as a priest. He maintained the post at Seville until 1636. Several times he applied unsuccessfully for other positions, and once again in 1630, he became embroiled in lawsuits which culminated in a brief period of imprisonment. In 1636, he left Seville and took up a post at Jaen Cathedral. In 1640, he was appointed as a prebendary at Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...

 Cathedral, and remained there for the last fourteen years of his life. He died in abject poverty.

Works

Correa's writings make reference to two other publications (a "Libro de versos" and a book on music theory), that were not published yet by that time; however, all his surviving works are contained in a single publication entitled Libro de tientos y discursos de música practica, y theorica de organo intitulado Facultad organica, published in 1626. This publication serves not only as a book of compositions, but as a treatise on music theory and performance practice, and it is one of the most important works of its kind to emerge from Spain in the 17th century. Correa's compositions take advantage of all the devices available to Spanish organists of the time, most notably the medio registro, or divided keyboard, an innovation unique to the Iberian peninsula which appeared towards the end of the 16th century, while his theoretical writings give great insight into his ideas of harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

 and counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

.

Libro de tientos contains 69 works, of which 62 are tiento
Tiento
Tiento is a musical genre originating in Spain in the mid-15th century. It is formally analogous to the fantasia , found in England, Germany, and the Low Countries, and also the ricercare, first found in Italy. The word derives from the Spanish verb tentar , and was originally applied to music...

s, ordered by increasing levels of difficulty - an indication that the purpose behind this work was at least partly pedagogical. By way of contrast with the works of his Portuguese contemporary, Coelho
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho was a Portuguese organist and composer. He is the first important Iberian keyboard composer since Cabezón....

, Correa's works are considerably shorter and show a stronger tendency towards monothematicism. He employs virtuosic figurations (the so-called glosa) in his works to a much greater extent, often at the expense of contrapuntal development; after the initial exposition, restatements of the theme are rare, and thematic development and use of contrapuntal devices such as inversion or augmentation are almost non-existent. Correa's harmonic language, while not devoid of tonally suggestive progressions, is quite distinctly modal and represents a continuation of the idiom established by Cabezón
Antonio de Cabezón
Antonio de Cabezón was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as performer and was eventually employed by the royal family...

 and Aguilera de Heredia
Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia
Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia was a Spanish monk, musician and composer.He was first the organist at the cathedral in Huesca from 1585 to 1603, and then moved to a more prestigious position as maestro de música at La Seo Cathedral in Saragossa. He published a collection of works in 1618, and...

.

The music of Correa is not devoid of innovation. Correa makes use of many devices unique to Spanish organ music of this period: unusual sonorities such as the augmented triad, unusual rhythmic groupings, and a notable dissonance which he vigorously defends, referred to as punto intenso contra remisso: the simultaneous sounding of a note and its chromatic alteration (e.g., C and C#). The theoretical aspect of this work also discusses ornamentation
Ornament (music)
In music, ornaments or embellishments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note...

, notes inegales
Notes inégales
In music, notes inégales refers to a performance practice, mainly from the Baroque and Classical music eras, in which some notes with equal written time values are performed with unequal durations, usually as alternating long and short...

, registration
Registration (organ)
Registration is the technique of choosing and combining the stops of a pipe organ in order to produce a particular sound. Registration can also refer to a particular combination of stops...

, and use of the different modes and key signatures.

Correa's organ music was inspired by the unique tonal qualities of Spanish organs, unequal temperament
Musical temperament
In musical tuning, a temperament is a system of tuning which slightly compromises the pure intervals of just intonation in order to meet other requirements of the system. Most instruments in modern Western music are tuned in the equal temperament system...

, and such devices as the divided keyboard. Modern-day recording technology, coupled with an increased interest in studying ancient organs and building newer instruments to replicate them, has made these works more readily accessible to both performer and listener.

A completed edition of Correa's works has been compiled by Santiago Kastner and released by Masters Music Publications.

Recordings

  • Francisco Correa de Araujo: Facultad organica. José Enrique Ayarra, organist. Almaviva.

Print

  • Apel, Willi. "The History of Keyboard Music to 1700". trans. and rev. by Hans Tischler. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1972. (Originally published as Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700, 1967.)
  • Jacobs, Charles. Francisco Correa de Arauxo". Den Haag: Nijhoff, 1973.
  • Ayarra Jarne, José Enrique. "Francisco Correa de Arauxo. Organista Sevillano del Siglo XVII". Sevilla, 1986.
  • Silbiger, Alexander, ed. "Keyboard Music before 1700". Ch. 6: "Spain and Portugal" (Robert Parkins). London: Routledge, 2004.

Online


External links

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