March 3, 2026

Hernando Franco’s Circumdederunt me: the First Piece for the Dead in Early Colonial America

Key Points

Circumdederunt me serves as a unique invitatory during Matins for the Dead, indicating its liturgical significance.
Hernando Franco's motet was performed in both Spain and Latin America, offering alternatives to established rituals.
The four-part composition reveals insights into cultural exchanges in music between Europe and the Americas.
Franco's work highlights the transitional role of music in early colonial religious practices, necessitating further exploration.

Abstract

This article presents a study and edition of the four-part motet Circumdederunt me by Hernando Franco (ca. 1530-1585), a musician born in peninsular Spain who worked as chapelmaster in Portugal, Santo Domingo, Cuba and Guatemala before being appointed to that role at the Cathedral of Mexico (1575-1585). Although several scholars have long known that settings of Circumdederunt me were freely composed as extraliturgical motets for performance during the mass, they had not recognized them as specific elements of the Liturgy. Nonetheless, this text was performed in Spain and Latin America as an alternative invitatory for the Matins for the Dead, either before or in place of the standard Roman prescribed invitatory, Regem cui omnia vivunt.

Hernando Franco’s Circumdederunt me: the First Piece for the Dead in Early Colonial America

Key Points

Abstract

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