:For the native American painter (b.1966) see Mateo Romero (artist).

Mateo Romero (c. 1575 – 1647) was a Belgian-born Spanish composer of Baroque music

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

 and master of the royal chapel

Flemish chapel (capilla flamenca)

The Flemish chapel was one of two choirs employed by Philip II of Spain, the other being the Spanish chapel .- La Grande Chapelle :...

.

Romero was born as Mathieu Rosmarin in Liège, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, and, following the early death of his father was, like many children from the then Spanish Netherlands, recruited as a child to serve as choir boy at the Madrid court. Between 1586 and 1593 he was taught in Spain by his countrymen George de la Hèle

George de La Hèle

George de La Hèle was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, mainly active in the Habsburg chapels of Spain and the Low Countries. Among his surviving music is a book of eight masses, some for as many as eight voices...

 and Philippe Rogier

Philippe Rogier

Philippe Rogier was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active at the Habsburg court of Philip II in Spain...

. He took the name Romero in 1594. In 1598 he was maestro de capilla at the Spanish court of Philip II of Spain

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

 and Philip III of Spain

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

. He remained in this position till 1634. In 1609 he was ordained a priest and was private chaplain to Philippe III. He was also secretary of the Order of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

.

After the death of Philip, he was also chaplain to King John IV of Portugal.

Romero was one of the most appreciated composers of his time, hence "El Maestro Capitan". His service extended over the threshold of two musical eras, the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 and Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

. Although he was out of the polyphonic school of the great Franco-Flemish school

Franco-Flemish School

In music, the Franco-Flemish School or more precisely the Netherlandish School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, and to the composers who wrote it...

, he played an important role in the introduction of Italian "stile moderno" in Spain.

Works

Most of his works, which were stored in the Royal Library in Lisbon, were destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.

Surviving works include:

Masses:

• Missa Bonae voluntatis 9 voices and B.c. (also 5 voice version)
• Missa Qui Habitat (8 voices and B.c.) - based on his own Psalm.
• Missa Un jour l'amant (8 voices and B.c.) - parody mass of chanson of Lassus.
• Missa Dolce fiamella (5 voices and B.c.)
• Missa Batalla (4 voices and B.c.)
• Missa de Requiem de dos Baxos (8 voices and B.c.) Missa "Pro Defunctis"
• Missa Veu que de vostre amour a 8
• Missa Dolce fiamella mia a 5 - on madrigal by Giovanni Maria Nanino
  Giovanni Maria Nanino
  Giovanni Maria Nanino was an Italian composer and teacher of the late Renaissance. He was a member of the Roman School of composers, and was the most influential music teacher in Rome in the late 16th century...
  
  .
• Missa on the Litany, 5vv (on his own 8 voice Litany
• Missa Batalla a 4 - on Clement Janequin
  Clément Janequin
  Clément Janequin was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous composers of popular chansons of the entire Renaissance, and along with Claudin de Sermisy, was hugely influential in the development of the Parisian chanson, especially the programmatic type...
  
  's La Bataille
• Missa Sabbato Sancto a 4

Magnificats, Psalms and Motets:

• 3 Magnificat
• 3 Dixit Dominus
• Domine, quando veneris
• Libera me, Domine
• Convertere Domine
• Domine, ne in furore tuo

Secular works:

• 9 villancicos
• 3 canciones a 3
• 5 letrillas a 3
• 2 novenas a 2
• 2 folías
• 15 romances a 3 to texts by Lope de Vega
  Lope de Vega
  Félix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
  
  , Francisco de Quevedo
  Francisco de Quevedo
  Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo...
  
   and others.
• 1 seguidilla
  Seguidilla
  The seguidilla is a quick, triple-time old Castillian folksong and dance form. The song is generally in the major key and often begins on an off-beat...
  
  
• 11 songs (treble voice surviving only) in Cancionero de Onteniente, 1645.

Discography

• "Romero - Music At The Spanish Court" Currende, dir. Erik Van Nevel
  Erik Van Nevel
  Erik Van Nevel is a Belgian conductor. He is the nephew of Paul Van Nevel.He pursued instrumental and vocal studies at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven and at the Koninklijk Conservatorium and the Koninklijk Conservatorium ....
  
  , 1996 (Cypres 3606)
• "Missa pro defunctis - Requiem para Cervantes" Ensemble Schola Antiqua, La Grande Chapelle, dir. Ángel Recasens (Communidad)
• "Office Pour l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or" Choeur de Chambre de Namur, dir. Jean Tubéry. 2003 (Ricercar)