Vicente Lusitano has been making headlines for several years, in what could be perceived more as a media campaign than a gradual acknowledgement of his undeniable significance as a Renaissance composer and theorist. His relative obscurity among the public mirrors that of other composers from his time who are equally unknown, raising the question: why him, and not someone else, attracting so much attention?
These narratives tend to centre on his presumed Black ancestry, frequently presenting it as a certainty, even though the only documented evidence is a late reference to his skin colour as (pardo).
Amid all this buzz, which has coincided with album releases and concert performances, Dr. Megan Hill, Managing Editor, Head Researcher, and Writer of Music by Black Composers, offers what is perhaps the most thoughtful and balanced commentary on the matter to date:
There has been significant press in recent years about the 16th-century Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano and his supposed Black ancestry. Music by Black Composers understands the excitement about such a possibility, but also chooses to keep in perspective the facts and evidence.
There is no known documentation dating from Lusitano’s lifetime that describes his ethnicity. There is only a source from a century later that refers to him as “pardo” (Portuguese for “mixed race”). This information has not been otherwise confirmed, and it is also not clear whether someone described as “pardo” would necessarily have Black (sub-Saharan African) heritage, or may have instead been of North African heritage (another group of people with significant presence in Portugal at the time of Lusitano’s birth).
We therefore do not list Lusitano in our materials because his ethnicity is necessarily speculative until more conclusive evidence can be found.
If you are a scholar, or have access to scholarship that clears up this speculation, please let us know at editor@musicbyblackcomposers.org!
Hill’s remarks serve as a welcome reminder of the need for careful engagement with the historical record.
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