Spanish composer. Padilla was born in Spain in 1590 and moved to Mexico in 1622. In 1629 he became maestro de capilla at Puebla Cathedral where he served until his death in 1664. Puebla had lavish resources at its disposal including a large choir of fourteen boys and twenty-eight men; in Baroque times it was a bigger religious center than Mexico City itself. Robert Stevenson writes that 'the musicians sat in double rows of seats facing each other. This arrangement encouraged antiphonal effects and the extensive use of instruments. During Padilla's time the favored instruments were the organ, harp and bass viol, forming a continuo; these were supplemented by recorders, chirimías, cornetts, sackbuts and bajóns, frequently used to double or replace voices. His music is primarily sacred motets, often for double choir, in the Renaissance style. It often includes accompaniments for organ or various stringed instruments.