Griffiths, John.

ABSTRACT
Esteban Daza was born in Valladolid in 1538, the eldest of the fourteen children of Tomás and Juan Daza. The family had no musical interests, and appear to have been a family of the lesser nobility who had fallen on hard times. Many of Esteban siblings entered religious orders, while the elder boys of the family were all educated at the University of Valladolid. Esteban played no part in maintaining the family's failing wealth and presetige, but appears to have been a recluse. He died in relative poverty c. 1591. Esteban Daza published vihuela fantasias influenced by Tomás de Santa María's Arte de tañer fantasia and intabulations of Spanish secular works and Latin motets. His collection El Parnasso (Valladolid, 1576), although widely circulated in its day, was the last vihuela book to be published. The courtly image of the vihuela has largely been owing to the prominence of court musicians as authors of surviving printed collections; the well-documented activities of Daza show that, in addition to its use at court, the vihuela was also played by middle-class amateurs.

Composer DAZA

Instrument VIHUELA

Century 16CENT

Region SPAIN

Medium

Music genre

Research field HISTORY, SOCIAL HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, MUSIC