Humanista Francisco de Peñalosa (c. 1470‒1528) i jego Jeremiaszowe Lamentacje

Francisco de  Peñalosa (c. 1470‒1528), who is considered to be the greatest and finest Spanish composer prior to Cristóbal de Morales, composed a significant number of the compositions which are mainly preserved in Tarazona 2/3 (copied between 1521 and 1528), the largest source of Iberian sacred music from the early sixteenth century. Among the Tarazona compositions there are four Lamentations, of which three are attributed to Peñalosa. His Lamentations appear to be the earliest Spanish polyphonic settings of Jeremiah poems whose authorship is known. Peñalosa’s Lamentations are slightly different from the others composed at that time. Written by a composer from the peninsula, they have at least a few characteristics typical for Spanish writing, which distinguishes them from other Lamentations found in Petrucci’s collection of 1506, and some others which resulted from his individual approach to the treatment of Jeremiah verses. By special treatment of the words of the Lamentations Peñalosa joined the broad group of the composers affected and inspired by the beauty of the poem and deep emotions which it expresses.  As a composer who was a maestro de musica and music teacher of the king’s grandson, Ferdinand, and who could have studied liberal arts and known Latin fluently, Peñalosa reveals himself as a creative artist, and a true and sensitive human being, as a person who was aware of what means to be a humanist.