Victoria, Tomás Luis de

(1548, Avila – 20 August 1611, Madrid)

   Roman Catholic priest, organist and composer noted for his religious devotion, he restricted himself to Latin texts, and thus his {}oeuvre is smaller than that of Orlandus Lassus or Giovanni da Palestrina with whom his music is often compared: 22 masses, 106 motets (including polyphonic antiphons and responsories), 18 Magnificats (most are alternatim), two passions, 38 polyphonic hymns, three sequences for cori spezzati and a famous Requiem for his patron the Dowager Empress Maria, sister to the King of Spain, published in 1605. He sang at the Cathedral of Avila and then entered the Jesuit Collegium Germanicum in Rome in 1565, where he likely studied with Palestrina; he succeeded him as maestro at the Roman seminary in 1571. In the 1560s and 1570s, he held many posts as director and organist in Rome. In 1577, he joined St. Philip Neri’s {}Congregazione dei Preti dell’Oratorio, possibly composing music for the laude sung there. He returned to Madrid in 1587 and served at the Monasterio de las Desclazas until his death.