Victoria: Requiem

Such is the importance of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s work (1548-1611) that its relevance has survived through to today. Victoria, who was born in Avila, was one of Castile’s leading polyphonists. During a stay in Italy he became influenced by the Roman music of the day. On his return to Castile he forged a reputation as one of the most famous musicians of the period. King Felipe II appointed him the personal chaplain of his sister, Empress Maria of Austria and Portugal, who had entered the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid when she became a widow. On her death in 1603, Victoria wrote this Officium defunctorum for a choir of six voices. Published two years later, it soon became famous. Victoria’s music featured in almost all the funeral services held in different places for the empress and, once the work had been published, he dedicated it to Margaret, Maria’s daughter, who had also withdrawn to the same convent in Madrid.