Love Lyrics and Romances of Renaissance Spain
This is the first recording by the early music group La Romanesca, devoted to Spanish villancicos and romances of the Renaissance.
Ruth Wilkinson viola da gamba, recorder
Hartley Newnham countertenor
John Griffiths vihuela, five-course guitar, percussion
Ros Bandt recorder, renaissance flute, percussion
Cristóbal de Morales composer
Miguel de Fuenllana composer
Francisco Guerrero composer
Luys de Narváez composer
Juan del Encina composer
Franco Alonzo composer
Francisco de la Torre composer
Juan de Palomares composer
Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde composer
Villancicos and romances from Spain’s Golden Age, spanning the courts of Ferdinand and Isabella through Charles V to Philip III and IV.
Countertenor Hartley Newnham joins Ruth Wilkinson, Ros Bandt and John Griffiths on recorders, renaissance flute, vihuela, five-course guitar, viola da gamba and percussion.
Artist

La Romanesca
A leading force in early music in Australia since 1978, La Romanesca has developed a special interest in the performance of mediaeval monophonic and polyphonic song, although the group's repertory spans the twelfth to seventeenth centuries.
Tracks
- De los álamos vengo, madre Juan Vásquez 1:35
- De Antequera sale el moro Cristóbal de Morales Miguel de Fuenllana 4:59
- Hermosa Catalina Francisco Guerrero 1:19
- Corten espadas afiladas (Anonymous) 2:28
- Fantasia del primer tono Luys de Narváez 1:19
- Fantasia del quarto tono Luys de Narváez 2:22
- Ay, triste que vengo Juan del Encina 2:22
- La tricotea Franco Alonzo 2:17
- Tres morillas m’enamoran (Anonymous) 3:54
- Danza alta Francisco de la Torre 2:15
- Calabaca, no sé, buen amor (Anonymous) 2:07
- Es la vida que cobré (Anonymous) 2:01
- Lo mejor de mi vida Juan de Palomares 4:00
- La morena graciosa (Anonymous) 1:09
- Balletto – Corrente – Balletto – Gagliarda Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde 4:17
- Las voces del fuego (Anonymous) 3:49
Performers
- La Romanesca
- Ruth Wilkinson · viola da gamba, recorder
- Hartley Newnham · countertenor
- John Griffiths · vihuela, five-course guitar, percussion
- Ros Bandt · recorder, renaissance flute, percussion
Composers

Miguel de Fuenllana
Miguel de Fuenllana (c.1500–1579) was a Spanish Renaissance vihuelist and composer, blind from birth. His Seville publication of 1554, Orphénica Lyra, remains a cornerstone of the vihuela repertoire.
Juan del Encina
Juan del Encina’s villancicos and secular songs give early Spanish Renaissance lyric a clear, speech-led voice: flexible rhythms shaped to the verse, plain strong harmonies, and three- and four-part writing that keeps the text forward.
Francisco Guerrero
Francisco Guerrero (1528–1599) was a Spanish Renaissance composer and Catholic priest, admired for sacred motets and masses as well as secular songs that long outlived him in cathedral and court repertory.
Francisco de la Torre
Francisco de la Torre left villancicos, funerary polyphony and a single court dance from late fifteenth-century Spain. His Alta, built on the La Spagna tenor, is the piece that still turns up in programmes of Iberian Renaissance song and dance.
Contributors
Photography
Peter Growney
Cover illustration
Roy Griffiths
Where to listen
Love Lyrics and Romances of Renaissance Spain is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Love Lyrics and Romances of Renaissance Spain is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3034
- List price
- $20.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 42 minutes 13 seconds
- Producer
- Brian Parish
- Recording Engineer
- Brian Parish
- Venue
- La Trobe University Recording Studio
- Credit
- Peter Growney
Roy Griffiths - Release date
- 1980
- Musical work
copyright - © 1980 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1980 Move Records
- Categories
- Classical, Early music
- Genres
- Early Music, Vocal & Opera
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574303421
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