Villalba Muñoz, Padre Luis
Villalba Muñoz, Padre Luis
Villalba Muñoz, Padre Luis, Spanish musicologist and composer; b. Valladolid, Sept. 22, 1872; d. Madrid, Jan. 8, 1921. He entered the Augustinian order at the age of 14, and was maestro de capilla at the monastery of the Escorial (1898-1916); he also taught history and other subjects, He ed. the review La Ciudad de Dios (1898-1916), to which he contributed valuable essays on Spanish music, and founded the Biblioteca sacro (1911). He then was organist at S. Sebastian in Madrid and ed. of the Ilustración Española y Americana. He publ. the valuable Antologia de organistas clásicosespañoles (Madrid, 1914; 2nded., 1971, by S. Rubio) and Dies canciones españolas de los siglos XV y XVI, traducidas y transcritas para piano y canto (Madrid, n.d.). He wrote monographs on Pedrell, Granados, and Usandizaga, and Ultimos músicos españoles del siglo XIX (Madrid, 1914). Among his compositions were organ works, sacred choruses, and chamber music.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire