Luis Milán 

[ Life | Photo Gallery | Home Page]

 Luis Milán Life

Luis Milán, a well-known poet and musician at the court of Valencia, was a noted performer and one of the foremost composers for the vihuela, one of the most popular instruments in the 16th century Spain.

Milán describes himself as "an exceedingly talented nobleman"; according to Graciano Tarrago, Milán worked for Don Fernando de Aragon, Duke of Calabria in Valencia, Spain; Milán was also appointed the body servant of Juan III, King of Portugal.

In 1536, he brought out his most important work, "Libro de musica de vihuela de mano intitulado El Maestro", intended as an instruction book for the vihuela da mano.

This was the first of it's kind in Spain and is valuable for it's musical selections (both instrumental and vocal) which show the quality of composer Milán was: it is Luis Milán's important contribution to posterity.

The book is dedicated to Don Juan, King of Portugal and Algarve; it's the earliest known Spanish example of tablature in print.

As far as we know, Milán was the first to write in detail about the interpretation of his music: he writes for example about “rubato” (tanér de gala), and about the importance of giving extra time to the important notes - the highest notes in runs.

His fantasies are of two types: some are contrapunctal, others are in a free style called "consonancias y redobles" (chords and scales, or runs).

About this last type, Milán mentions that the chords shall be played slowly, and the scales or runs, quickly.

Milán is important in the history of the vihuela because his book "El Maestro" is the earliest surviving compilation of music for the vihuela: it contains forty fantasies, four preludes, six pavanes, six Christmas carols for vihuela and voice, four old romances and six sonnets.

The sonnets have text by Petrarch a renowned poet of the Renaissance whose works appear in many of the madrigals of the same time.