Juan de Lienas

Quote: ” . . greatest Indian noble blood composer in colonial annals . . “, “ . . (his) compositions rank among the finest and technically fluent in the colonial repertory.” Thus runs the commentary on Juan de Lienas about whose life we have no knowledge. The two mss containing his 17 surviving works are from the early 17th century and originate from convents in Mexico City. The few pieces heard here attest to his mastery of vocal polyphony as practiced especially by Cristobal de Morales in Spain, whose works are found in many Mexican sources.

If Juan de Lienas is of “Indian noble blood” his work exemplifies a remarkable level of assimilation of the finest European music by indigenous Americans in the 16th and 17th centuries.