Dr. Lorenzo Candelaria

Candelaria is a historian of Western European art music. His research focuses on Catholic music in sixteenth-century Spain and its subsequent impact on devotional cultures in Latin America and the southwestern United States. Candelaria is an accomplished violinist, an active lecturer, & author. Recent books include American Music: A Panorama (with Daniel Kingman) and The Rosary Cantoral: Ritual and Social Design in a Chantbook from Early Renaissance Toledo. His current book project is titled Music in Early Mexican Catholicism.​

This lecture tells the story of a rare and beautifully decorated manuscript of Latin plainchant acquired by a prestigious university library in the late 1980s. It includes rare examples of Spanish melodies for the Catholic Church, a work by master composer Josquin Desprez, and an enigmatic painting after the celebrated artist Albrecht Dürer. For half a century, scholars from various disciplines attempted to solve the mystery of its origins with little success. This illustrated presentation reveals the origins of the chantbook and explores its broader significance as a cultural witness to a largely unexplored area in music history.