Juan Esquivel (c.1560-before 1630)

Born in Ciudad Rodrigo, Juan Esquivel was one of Spain’s finest composers of the so-called Siglo de Oro. As with so many figures of his age, we know few biographical details of Esquivel’s life and even his death date is not clear. He appears to have been enrolled as a chorister at his home cathedral in 1568 and would have received musical tuition from Juan Navarro. He went to hold positions at the cathedrals of Oviedo and Calahorra before returning to his native Ciudad Rodrigo in 1591, where he was patronised by Don Pedro Ponce de León, Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo and Dominican Friar. It was in the nearby city of Salamanca that several volumes of Esquivel’s music were published in the early 17th century. His output is therefore extensive – far greater than Alonso Lobo, for example – and yet today his music remains relatively unknown, probably because surviving copies of his publications are so few and far between (one has been lost entirely). Upon inspection of his three extant publications – a Book of Masses, a Book of Motets (both 1608) and a large volume of diverse pieces including Vesper psalms, hymns, a complete cycle of Magnificats, antiphons and more Masses (1613) – we can see music that is carefully crafted for the liturgy and distinctly “Spanish” in character. Like his Iberian contemporaries – notably Sebastián de Vivanco – archaic contrapuntal practices, such as mensural canons and polytextuality, play a significant role in his work but so too does clarity and concision and there can be no doubt over his place within the pantheon of Spain’s leading musicians.

Missa Batalla –
AA(AA)TT(T)T(TT)B(B) or SS(SS)AA(A)T(TT)B(B)

£12.60 per 10 copies

Emendemus in melius –
ATBarB or SATB

£6.30 per 10 copies

Missa Hortus conclusus –
AT(T)BarB or SA(A)TB

£12.60 per 10 copies

Magnificat Quinti toni –
AATTBar(Bar)B or SSAAT(T)B

£6.30 per 10 copies

Missa pro defunctis a5 –
AATBarB or SSATB

£12.60 per 10 copies

Sancti Angeli –
AATTBarB or SSAATB

£6.30 per 10 copies

Tria sunt munera –
AATBarB or SSATB

£6.30 per 10 copies

Vox clamantis –
ATBarB or SATB

£6.30 per 10 copies

Coming soon

Ascendo ad patrem meum – ATTBarB or SAATB

Asperges me – ATBarB or SATB

Beata Dei genitrix – ATBarB or SATB

Benedicta tu – ATBarB or SATB

De quinque panibus – ATBarB or SATB

Descendit Angelus Domini – AATBarB or SSATB

Domus mea – ATBarB or SATB

Duo seraphim – AATTBarB or SSAATB

Ecce ancilla Domini – AATBarB or SSATB

Et ecce vox de nube dicens – AATBarB or SSATB

Magnificat Primi Toni – AATBarB or SSATB

Magnificat Octavi Toni – ATBarB or SATB

O crux benedicta – ATBarB or SATB

Petite et accipietis – ATBarB or SATB

Missa pro defunctis a4 – ATBarB or SATB

Missa Quarti toni – AATBarB or SSATB

Repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto – AATBarB or SSATB

Sancta Maria – AATBar.ATBarB or SSAT.SATB

Stabant iusti – ATBarB or SATB

Tu es pastor ovium – AATBarB or SSATB

Missa Tu es Petrus – AATBarB or SSATB