Juan del Encina


Juan del Encina was a Spanish composer, poet, priest, and playwright, often credited as the joint-father of Spanish drama, alongside Gil Vicente. His birth name was Juan de Fermoselle. He spelled his name Enzina, but this is not a significant difference; it is two spellings of the same sound, in a time when "correct spelling" as we know it barely existed.

Life

He was born in 1468 near Salamanca, probably at Encina de San Silvestre, one of at least 7 known children of Juan de Fermoselle, a shoemaker, and his wife. He was of Jewish converso descent. After leaving Salamanca University sometime in 1492 he became a member of the household of Don Fadrique de Toledo, the second Duke of Alba, although some sources believe that he did not work for the Duke until 1495. A plausible argument is that his first post was as a corregidor in northern Spain.
Fermoselle was a chaplain at Salamanca Cathedral in the early 1490s. It was here that he changed his name from Juan de Fermoselle to Juan del Enzina, or Encina. He was later forced to resign as chaplain because he was not ordained.

Works

In 1492 Encina entertained his patron with a dramatic piece, the Triunfo de la fama, written to commemorate the fall of Granada. In 1496 he published his Cancionero, a collection of dramatic and lyrical poems. He then applied for the cantor post at Salamanca Cathedral, but the position was divided among three singers, including his rival Lucas Fernández.
While working for the Duke of Alba, Encina was the program director, along with Fernández. Here Encina wrote pastoral eclogues, the foundation of Spanish secular drama. Encina's plays are predominantly based on shepherds and unrequited love.
Encina was ambitious, looking to be promoted based on preferment, so around 1500 he relocated to Rome, where he apparently served in the musical establishments of several cardinals or noblemen. Encina was appointed to the Archdiaconate of Málaga Cathedral by Pope Julius II in 1508.
In 1518 he resigned from position at Málaga for a simple benefice at Morón, and the following year he went to Jerusalem, where he sang his first mass. He wrote about the events during his pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Tribagia o Via Sacra de Hierusalem. In 1509 he had held a lay canonry at Málaga; in 1519 he was appointed to the priorship of León Cathedral. His last job was recorded as being in León, where he is thought to have died towards the end of 1529.
His Cancionero is preceded by a prose treatise on the condition of the poetic art in Spain. His fourteen dramatic pieces mark the transition from the purely ecclesiastical to the secular stage. The Aucto del Repelón and the Égloga de Fileno dramatize the adventures of shepherds; the latter, like Plácida y Vitoriano, is strongly influenced by the Celestina. Several of his writings had pastoral themes as those first two, romanticizing rural life. The intrinsic interest of Encina's plays is slight, but they are important from the historical point of view, for the lay pieces form a new departure, and the devout eclogues prepare the way for the autos of the 17th century. Moreover, his lyrical poems are remarkable for their intense sincerity and devout grace.
Even though Encina's works were dedicated to royal families, he never served as a member of a royal chapel. Further, although he worked in many cathedrals and was ordained as a priest, no religious musical works of his are known to still exist. Most of his works were done by his mid-30s: these include some 60 or more songs attributed to Encina, and another 9 settings of texts to which the music could also be added, but this is not for certain. Many of the surviving pieces are villancicos, of which he was a leading composer. There are three and four voice settings that offer a variety of styles depending on the kind of text, with very limited movements in the voices in preparation for the cadence points. To make the text heard clearly, Encina used varied and flexible rhythms that are patterned on the accents of the verse, and used simple yet strong harmonic progressions.

Leonese times

Encina held the priorship of León Cathedral from November 1523 until his final illness in December 1529. His will was presented on 14 January 1530, so the exact date of his death is not known, but it is thought to be in late 1529 or early 1530. In his will he noted that he wanted to be buried beneath the choir of Salamanca Cathedral, and in 1534 his remains were taken to the cathedral.

Leonese language influence

Juan del Encina wrote in Castillian with Leonese language influences in his pastoral eclogues. He was from Salamanca, a Leonese-speaking region, and eventually arrived at the capital of the long-vanished Kingdom of León, where he died.
He was also a songwriter for the church.

Selected works

  • Una sañosa porfía
  • Triunfo de la fama
  • Cancionero
  • Tan buen ganadico
  • Más vale trocar
  • Triste España sin ventura
  • Plácida y Victoriano
  • Églogas
  • Oy comamos y bebamos
  • ''Tribagia o Via Sacra de Hierusalem''

Ensemble performances of his work

Recordings

  • 2021: Todos los bienes del mundo: Juan del Encina and Musical Traits in Spanish Renaissance — ContrArco Consort