Francisco de Salinas
Encyclopedia
Francisco de Salinas was a Spanish music theorist and organist, noted as among the first to describe meantone temperament
in mathematically precise terms, and one of the first (along with Guillaume Costeley
) to describe, in effect, 19 equal temperament
. In his De musica libri septem of 1577 he discusses 1/3-, 1/4- and 2/7-comma meantone tunings. Of 1/3-comma meantone, which is essentially identical to the meantone of 19-et, he remarks that it is "languid" but not "offensive to the ear", and he notes that a keyboard of 19 tones to the octave suffices to give a circulating version of meantone.
The 19th-century musicologist Alexander John Ellis
maintained that Salinas really meant to characterize 1/6-comma meantone, and made a mistake due to his blindness. Others point out that Salinas's descriptions of his tuning as "languid" but not "offensive to the ear" seem to apply to 1/3-comma meantone, not to 1/6-comma meantone, which in any case has a much sharper fifth than musicians of Salinas's own time preferred.
Salinas was also interested in just intonation, and advocated a 5-limit
just intonation scale of 24 notes he called instrumentum perfectum.
Blind from the age of ten, Salinas served as organist to the celebrated Duke of Alba
, and afterwards (starting in 1567) as professor of music at the University of Salamanca
. His own compositions for organ have been lost. The poet Fray Luis de Leon admired Salinas greatly, knew him personally, and wrote an ode in homage to the musician.
Meantone temperament
Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, which is a system of musical tuning. In general, a meantone is constructed the same way as Pythagorean tuning, as a stack of perfect fifths, but in meantone, each fifth is narrow compared to the ratio 27/12:1 in 12 equal temperament, the opposite of...
in mathematically precise terms, and one of the first (along with Guillaume Costeley
Guillaume Costeley
Guillaume Costeley was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was the court organist to Charles IX of France and famous for his numerous chansons, which were representative of the late development of the form; his work in this regard was part of the early development of the style known as...
) to describe, in effect, 19 equal temperament
19 equal temperament
In music, 19 equal temperament, called 19-TET, 19-EDO, or 19-ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 19 equal steps . Each step represents a frequency ratio of 21/19, or 63.16 cents...
. In his De musica libri septem of 1577 he discusses 1/3-, 1/4- and 2/7-comma meantone tunings. Of 1/3-comma meantone, which is essentially identical to the meantone of 19-et, he remarks that it is "languid" but not "offensive to the ear", and he notes that a keyboard of 19 tones to the octave suffices to give a circulating version of meantone.
The 19th-century musicologist Alexander John Ellis
Alexander John Ellis
Alexander John Ellis FRS was an English mathematician and philologist. He changed his name from his father's name Sharpe to his mother's maiden name Ellis in 1825, based on a condition for receiving significant financial support from a relative on his mother's side.- Biography :He was born...
maintained that Salinas really meant to characterize 1/6-comma meantone, and made a mistake due to his blindness. Others point out that Salinas's descriptions of his tuning as "languid" but not "offensive to the ear" seem to apply to 1/3-comma meantone, not to 1/6-comma meantone, which in any case has a much sharper fifth than musicians of Salinas's own time preferred.
Salinas was also interested in just intonation, and advocated a 5-limit
Limit (music)
In music theory, limit or harmonic limit is a way of characterizing the harmony found in a piece or genre of music, or the harmonies that can be made using a particular scale. The term was introduced by Harry Partch, who used it to give an upper bound on the complexity of harmony; hence the name...
just intonation scale of 24 notes he called instrumentum perfectum.
Blind from the age of ten, Salinas served as organist to the celebrated Duke of Alba
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands , nicknamed "the Iron Duke" in the Low Countries because of his harsh and cruel rule there and his role in the execution of his political opponents and the massacre of several...
, and afterwards (starting in 1567) as professor of music at the University of Salamanca
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest European...
. His own compositions for organ have been lost. The poet Fray Luis de Leon admired Salinas greatly, knew him personally, and wrote an ode in homage to the musician.