Patiño, Carlos

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Patiño, Carlos

Patiño, Carlos, eminent Spanish composer; b. Santa Maria del Campo, date unknown; d. Madrid, Sept. 5, 1675. He settled in Madrid, where he became chaplain and maestro de capilla at the Monasterio de la Encarnacion (1628), holding the latter title at the royal chapel (from 1633); was rector of the college of choirboys (from 1648). He holds an important place in Spanish music history for supplanting the Italian madrigal style for one of Spanish provenance. He produced a large body of sacred music, numbering among his finest works 6 masses for 4 and 8 Voices and 2 masses for 12 Voices, 17 sacred Latin works, and 24 sacred Spanish compositions (tonos and villancicos). He also wrote theater pieces, most notably cuatros de empezar, which were sung as preludes to dramatic works.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire