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Esteban Daza

Spanish composer

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 12, 2024
Entity authorityQ326420 ↗
Source-derived summary

Esteban Daza (or Estevan Daça) (c. 1537 in Valladolid – between 1591 and 1596 in Valladolid) was a Spanish composer and vihuelist of the Renaissance. He was one of the last major vihuelists of the 16th century, as the instrument's popularity was eclipsed by that of the guitar.

Daza came from a middle class family, and was the eldest of fourteen children. He studied at the University of Valladolid, where he graduated probably in the early 1560s. There is no evidence that he ever practised a profession, he was able to survive on income from his family's investments. As revealed by the research of John Griffiths (musician), he lived in his parents' home until at least the time of his father's death 1569, although probably until long after the publication of his vihuela music. The last documents that mention in the early 1590s indicate that he was living outside the city wall of Valladolid in a house owned by his brother Baltasar.

El Parnaso (Parnassus) is the only known book of music published by Daza. It was printed in 1576 in Valladolid, and contains works for solo vihuela and for vihuela and voice.

Editorial summary

“Esteban Daza” enters the record as spanish composer. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Esteban, Daza and Spanish can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1537, 1591, 1596, 1569—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1537-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Esteban, Daza and Spanish.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Esteban Daza” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Esteban, Daza and Spanish provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 12, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q326420. VIAF identifies the subject as 100955769. The Library of Congress control number is n81047978. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1537, 1591, 1596 and 1569.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

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  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Esteban Daza”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Esteban Daza primary sources, Esteban Daza archive and Esteban research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Esteban Daza” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.