Tomás Luis de Victoria

Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria; c. 1548) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Renaissance, and was “admired above all for the intensity of some of his motets and of his Offices for the Dead and for Holy Week”. His surviving oeuvre, unlike that of his colleagues, is almost exclusively sacred and polyphonic vocal music, set to Latin texts. As a Catholic priest, as well as an accomplished organist and singer, his career spanned both Spain and Italy. However, he preferred the life of a composer to that of a performer. Life and career Family background and early years Tomás Luis de Victoria was born around 1548, most likely in Ávila, the main residence of his family at the time. Victoria’s birthplace has been the subject of debate, and remains unclear since his baptismal record has never been found. The town of Sanchidrián has been proposed as another possible birthplace, however it was only later that the Victorias would settle there, when Tomás’ eldest brother moved to Sanchidrián with his young family and widowed mother.