Spanish composer. Entered the royal chapel around 1631 as harpist and harpsichordist; he remained there for the rest of his life. He was the most important musical figure at court; his music enjoyed wide popularity throughout Iberia and Latin America, to judge from surviving copies. He reputedly composed the music for El laurel de Apolo (1657/8) one of the earliest works to bear the name of zarzuela (originally an opera written for the Palaze of Zarzuela. Later such works include La púrpura de la rosa (1659/60) and Celos aún del aire matan (1660); the libretti, as was generally the case with his stage works, is by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. His other music includes two Masses (one with continuo), motets, and over 100 secular villancicosand tonos humanos.