Richard Davy is one of the most important composers represented in the Eton Choirbook where no less than nine compositions by him are to be found. It's thought that he came from Devon but of his early life nothing is known. The first reliable record of him is as a scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford in the early 1480s and then as sole organist and informator choristarum at Magdalen between 1491 and 1492. He's known to have left Magdalen by 1494 and in 1495 the college paid for the binding of a book containing his songs, masses and antiphons. Anything beyond that is speculation. Thus while he's probably the Richard Davy on record as having been at Fotheringhay College in 1512 because of the very close connections between Magdalen and Fotheringay we can't actually prove that it was him. Nor can we prove that he is the the Richard Davy who stayed at Fotheringay until his death in 1538 and in his will dated March 31st 1538, being 'seyke and dysseased in body' asked that he be buried in the parish side of the church in the middle aisle between the west door and the gravestone of the Fotheringay composer Cotterell about whose life even less is known. Davy's music is, to my mind very beautiful, granted it's a bit florid but that was the style and it's certainly not excessively so. His setting of the Stabat Mater has a grace and fluidity to it that grows upon the listener. Try coming back in a few days and listening to it again. I think you'll be glad you did. Enjoy :-).
markfromireland
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The young priest and composer Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla had a glittering career in front of him in Spain. Born in Málaga, around 1590 and trained in that city's cathedral as a musician by Francisco Vásquez he held posts as maestro de capilla at the cathedrals of Jerez de la Frontera where the cathedral authorities were so pleased by him that they granted him an extra 6000 reales per annum. He left that posting to take up the post of maestro de capilla at Cádiz Cathedral on 17 March 1616 where he remained for about six years.
Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla (±1590-1664) was born in the Andulasian city of Málaga, around 1590. He was accepted as a choirboy for the Catedral de Santa María de la Encarnación in the city where he was trained as a chorister, musician, and composer by Francisco Vásquez. He was a talented musician whose reputation quickly spread and who received lucrative offers of employment from prestigious cathedrals. By 1613 he'd accepted a post as maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Jérez de la Frontera followed by several years again as maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Cádiz. Musical historians don't know when exactly he travelled to Mexico or what inducements he was offered to forsake a glittering career in Spain but they must have been substantial what we do know is that he's recorded in the archives of Puebla's Catedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Concepción as a singer and assistant maestro by 1622 and as maestro de capilla by 1629. He remained as maestro de capilla at the cathedral until his death in 1664. The musical culture he would have encountered at Puebla was rich and varied with works by Palestrina, Morales, Guerrero, Navarro, Victoria, A. Lobo, Rogier, Ghersem, Vivanco all featuring in the choir's repertoire. Nor were the efforts of Mexican composers ignored, the works of Pedro Bermúdez and Gaspar Fernandez both of whom were amongst de Padilla's predecessors at Puebla feature prominently in the cathedral's musical collections.
