Esteban Daza

In the mid-sixteenth century vihuelas—whether strummed or sounded by fingers or plectrum—formed an essential part of musical life in Spain. Esteban Daza produced extensive works for the instrument and earned recognition for rendering its intricate tablature more accessible. His scores supplied both modal designations (tonos) and separate tenor lines, the latter performed vocally by the player himself. Daza’s chief publication, the 1576 anthology titled El Parnaso, comprises three volumes of vihuela music that contain fantasias designed to build manual dexterity and power, along with intabulations of motets and secular pieces. Although he compiled the collection, the majority of its contents originated with other composers whose works Daza adapted for the vihuela.