Manuel Rodrigues Coelho
Encyclopedia
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho was a Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

. He is the first important Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

 keyboard composer since Cabezón
Antonio de Cabezón
Antonio de Cabezón was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as performer and was eventually employed by the royal family...

.

Coelho was born in Elvas around 1555 and probably received early education at the Elvas Cathedral. He may also have studied at the Badajoz Cathedral, where he worked as organist in 1573–77. At some point during the 1580s Coelho returned to Elvas and worked at the cathedral there. He left the post in 1602 after becoming court organist at Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

. He died in 1635, probably in Lisbon.

The composer's surviving works are preserved in a 1620 print Flores de musica pera o instrumento de tecla & harpa, published in Lisbon. The collection, dedicated to Philip III of Spain
Philip III of Spain
Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

, is the earliest surviving Portuguese keyboard print. It contains 24 tiento
Tiento
Tiento is a musical genre originating in Spain in the mid-15th century. It is formally analogous to the fantasia , found in England, Germany, and the Low Countries, and also the ricercare, first found in Italy. The word derives from the Spanish verb tentar , and was originally applied to music...

s, 101 liturgical organ versets (kyries and hymn settings), four settings of the Spanish/Mozarabic version of Pange lingua
Pange Lingua
Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium is a hymn written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi . It is also sung on Maundy Thursday, during the procession from the church to the place where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday...

, and four intabulations of Lassus
Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance...

' Susanne ung jour. This large collection is probably a compilation of earlier composed material.

Coelho's most important compositions are his tientos, which are very long (200–300 bars on average), multi-sectional pieces. Imitatitive counterpoint has a secondary role in them, whereas motivic figures and figuration, hallmarks of the Baroque style, are in the foreground. The harmonic language is simple and clear in sharp contrast to the contemporary Italian composers (i.e. Ascanio Mayone
Ascanio Mayone
Ascanio Mayone was an Neapolitan composer and harpist. He trained as a pupil of Giovanni de Macque in Naples, and worked at Santissima Annunziata there as organist from 1593 and maestro di cappella from 1621; he was also organist at the royal chapel from 1602...

, Giovanni Maria Trabaci
Giovanni Maria Trabaci
Giovanni Maria Trabaci was an Italian composer and organist. He was a prolific composer, with some 300 surviving works preserved in more than 10 prints, and was especially important for his keyboard music....

 and Girolamo Frescobaldi
Girolamo Frescobaldi
Girolamo Frescobaldi was a musician from Ferrara, one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A child prodigy, Frescobaldi studied under Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara, but was influenced by a large number of composers, including Ascanio...

); the contrapuntal techniques are reminiscent of Sweelinck
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the north German organ...

. Coelho's liturgical pieces are less ornate, and generally employ more strict counterpoint. They include a group of 23 versets para se cantarem ao órgâo, "for singing to the organ", which all consist of a vocal line with organ accompaniment.

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