Luis de Narváez (Granada ca. 1500 - 1555/60) was a Spanish composer, primarily of vocal polyphony, and only secondly for the vihuela, for which he is far better remembered today, however. His volumes of tablatures Los seys libros del Delphin de música de cifra para tañer vihuela were published at Valladolid in 1538. The collection includes a large number of instrumental fantasias on the Italian model, which were highly influential in the following decades, of romances, villancicos, and sets of diferencias (variations) on songs already familiar to his hearers, such as ";Diferencias sobre 'Guárdame las vacas'" as well as the first published transcriptions for vihuela of polyphonic songs. He first appeared in the household of the secretary to Carlos I and comendador of León, Francisco de los Cobos, to whom his publication was dedicated, and from 1548 was in the service of Philip II.
His most familiar pieces are his transcription of Josquin des Pres' work for four voices "Mille regretz", also known as "La Canción del Emperador" (being a favourite song of Charles V), which maintains remarkable fidelity to the original; and for the song "Paseavase el rey Moro", with its vihuela accompaniment.
Two of his motets were published in books of motets in 1539 and 1543 in Lyon, France.
With the resurrection of the lost arts of vihuela making and playing in the twentieth century, Emilio Pujol edited the volume on Narváez (1945) for the authoritative series Monumentos de la música española. Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
