Infunde amorem cordibus: an early 16th-century polyphonic hymn cycle from Seville
Juan Ruiz Jiménez obtained his PhD from Granada University in 1995. His research and publications focus mainly on sacred and instrumental music in early modern Spain. He is currently working on a study of the music, liturgy and architecture of Seville Cathedral in the Middle Ages. j.m.ruiz{at}arrakis.es
The article studies the characteristics of the polyphonic hymn cycle contained in Tarazona Cathedral, Ms. 2–3 within the context of the transitional period in the liturgy of the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th and 16th centuries. New information on the biographical profile of the composers of these hymns, as well as the analysis of breviaries and other chant sources, some of them previously unknown, from the places with which the Tarazona anthology has been associated, establishes a Sevillian origin for the cycle and by extension for the rest of the repertory in the manuscript. The conclusions reached in the article permit the identification of the chant melodies, from a Sevillian hymnary, that would be most appropriate for alternatim performance of the polyphony in this most important source from the time of the Catholic Monarchs.
Key Words: Seville • Tarazona • early Spanish music • hymn cycle • hymnary • Catholic Monarchs • Francisco de Peñalosa • Pedro de Escobar • Alonso Pérez de Alba