(b ?Guimarães, northern Portugal, c1465–70; d 1536/7). Portuguese dramatist, poet, musician and courtier. He probably died in the year after his last dated play, performed in December 1536. Vicente's plays were written for the royal court during the reigns of Manuel I (1495–1521) and João III (1521–57). According to Reckert, 48 plays are extant, dated between 1502 and 1536; 20 are written in Portuguese, 12 in Castilian and the others use a mixture of languages. Vicente's early work was influenced by Juan del Encina. However, Vicente made much more use of music in his entertainments than Encina or any other of his contemporaries, as is shown by frequent textual references, citations and stage directions. Of almost 250 pieces called for in his plays, only four (which do not survive) are identifiable as his own. At least 15 compositions can be found in the Cancionero de Palacio; others belong to the religious sphere. Although in some cases the relationship between these pieces and their theatrical context is slight, in general Vicente displays amazing wit and originality in the way he makes music play a significant dramatic role. In his plays we find the earliest literary references to the ensalada (Auto da fé, 1510) and the folia (Sibila Cassandra, 1513).
StevensonSM
A. Braamcamp Freire: Vida e obras de Gil Vicente (Oporto, 1919, 2/1944)
M.A. de Lima Cruz: Gil Vicente (Lisbon, 1937)
A.E. Beau: ‘A música na obra de Gil Vicente’, Biblos, xiv (1938), 329–55
G. Chase: The Music of Spain (New York, 1941, 2/1959)
M. Martins: ‘Canções marianas musicadas nos autos vicentinos’, Didaskalia, vii (1977), 399–432
S. Reckert: Espírito e letra de Gil Vicente (Lisbon, 1983)
D. Becker: ‘De la musique dans le théâtre religieux de Gil Vicente’, Arquivos do Centro cultural português, xxiii (1987), 461–86
ALBERT T. LUPER/MANUEL PEDRO FERREIRA