As a performer, Luis de Milán was extremely well-respected by all those who heard him play. Even his patrons would occasionally introduce him as "Orpheus," and a contemporary poet considered the possibility that Milán would rise above the most renowned musician of classical antiquity: "But now I fear me that I cannot praise Don Luys Milán, even I do desire, Who shall in music to such skill attain That to Orpheus' wreath he shall spaire." Milán also excelled in composition, and he left Western history the first of a number of musical anthologies dedicated to the Spanish vihuela, El Maestro, Libro de Musica de Vihuela da Mano. Musically, this volume presents the first collection of instrumental music ever to be published in Spain, and crests a wave of at least six collections of music for the vihuela to be published over the course of the sixteenth century. Culturally, it presents a snapshot of the splendid and aspiring court of Valencia, a court that tried to emulate the cultural eminence of Naples. Milán's patron, the Duke of Calabria, was conducting a risky military campaign when the book was released; this may have contributed to Milán' decision to dedicate his Magnum Opus not to the Duke, but rather to the arts-loving King of Portugal, João III. Nonetheless, the music contained in it represents the best of Spanish performance, and Spanish composition at the time.

The third pavan in this well-organized volume follows the composer's plan of modal organization: it is in "Tones V and VI." Not only are these tonal relatives aurally brighter than some other modal combinations, the overall shape of the composition reflects its courtly milieu. The piece's phrase structure is not quite danceable, but still offers clear echoes of the regular strains of a courtly dance. The composer freely inserts elements from his style writing fantasias: lighthearted changes in musical texture, aurally titillating cross-relations (even repeated), and sudden departures into virtuosic passagework in one voice or another. And yet throughout, the regular alternation of strong and short beats retains the piece's essential ties to the dance.

© Timothy Dickey, All Music Guide