Spanish Composer. Born in Villarobledo, he grew up in Fuencarral, and entered the service of the Count of lemos in 1658 as a page. He probably travelled with the Count to naples In 1662 through 1663, returning to madrid in 1664. The Count was named viceroy of Peru in 1667, and Tomas, by now gentilhomme de chambre, followed him overseas. He served as captain of the Viceroy's armory through 1672, then as a law officer in the province of Chapoyas in the north of Peru. When he was finally appointed to a usical post, it was one of the most important in South America: on January 1, 1676, he was appointed choirmaster of Lima cathedral, succeeding Juan de Araujo. Thereafter, until his death in 1728, a series ofworks testified to his rôle as the most-favored composer of the Viceregal court, execpt for a period between 1707 and 1720, when he seems to have been eclipsed by Roque Ceruti. Amongst his works was the music for the ceremony of the beatification of Toribio de Mongroviejo (the archbishop of Lima, who died in 1606) on November 11, 1680. In 1701 he directed the music for the funeral of Charles II, the so-called bewitched king, on June 26th, and a few months later, that in celebration of the eighteenth birthday of the new monarch, Philip V; on October 19, saw he presented in honor of the monarch, his only opera, La Purpura de la Rosa, the first written in Latin America, and the only Baroque lyric work from the New World than has been preserved.) His last great work was the music he contributed to the funeral ceremonies for Louis I on August 21, 1725.