Bartolomé de Escobedo

Bartolomé de Escobedo (1515 – August 11, 1563) was a Spanish composer. He was born in Zamora, studied at Salamanca where he was a singer, and in 1536 joined the papal choir in Rome as only the second Spaniard to be admitted after Cristóbal de Morales. He remained in Rome until 1554, interrupted by a short return to his home in 1541-5. When he left the papal choir he returned to Spain, taking a non-resident prebend at the cathedral in Segovia. He is mentioned several times in the diaries of the Cappella Sistina, sometimes for bad-tempered behaviour. When he retired to Spain he maintained contact with the Sistine choir and advised on recruitment. The great theorist Salinas, university professor and cathedral maestro at Salamanca, was a friend and called Escobedo ‘an extremely learned musician’.