First monographic recording ever published about Cristóbal Galán, master of the Spanish Royal Chapel under the reign of Charles II (end of the 17th Century), with a refined selection of his best religious works in Latin and Spanish.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Crist�bal de Morales' fame and influence were enormous in his own time. More than 70 prints before 1600 included some of his compositions. The works of the musician from Seville were not merely an essential part of the repertoires of the most important churches and cathedrals of Spain and America until the end of the Modern Age, but they also enjoyed extraordinary prestige among theoreticians and historians. He only worked for short periods in posts in Spain and his name remains associated with the decade he spent at the papal chapel of Pope Paul III, from 1535 to 1545. In Rome he carried out his responsibilities as cantor alongside colleagues the likes of Costanzo Festa, Jacques Arcadelt and Juan Escribano. Morales was especially interested in texts for Lent, which include the celebration of Ash Wednesday and the Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays. La Grande Chapelle takes full advantage of the extensive number of these motets on liturgical texts for the Lenten season to pay homage to one of the great composers of all time.

At the beginning of the 17th century the Brussels court experienced an extraordinary cultural splendour thanks to the Archdukes Albert and Isabella Clara Eugenia, during a period of peace and prosperity in the Southern Low Countries under Spanish Habsburg rule. The sovereigns, who were great collectors and patronized artists such as Brueghel de Velours and Rubens, maintained a magnificent musical chapel with a substantial number of Spanish, Italian and English musicians. It was in this context that the work of the Zaragoza native Pedro Ruimonte unfolded. Master of chamber music under the Archdukes, his Parnaso español (1614) represents one of the capstones in the history of Spanish music. This album reconstructs the musical landscapes of the Archdukes’ chapel and chamber music, characterized by a variety of styles and genres and an innovative spirit.

The music of Sebastián Durón, like that produced in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Spain generally, has been undervalued for decades in that it was considered inferior to the work of the great composers of the Siglo de Oro. And yet he is one of the great figures of Spanish music – organist and composer in the Court of Carlos II and Mariana of Neuburg, the last monarchs of the House of Habsburg, becoming master of the Chapel of Felipe V with the advent of the new Bourbon dynasty. His support for the Austrian cause during the War of Succession led to his expulsion from the Royal Chapel and his exile in France in 1706. In commemoration of the third centenary of his death, this recording recovers a number of Durón’s religious works written in Spanish, mainly for 8 voices. What we find is a composer faithful to the Spanish tradition of the tono (song) and the villancico, but who masterfully integrates Italian elements into work of extraordinary expressive power. This is an opportunity to rediscover the sacred work of this fascinating musician who served two dynasties.

Classical Music

Classical Music

For over thirty years Carlos Patiño served Philip IV as Choirmaster in the Spanish Royal Chapel. The Spanish monarch was not the only one who held him in great esteem, for João IV of Portugal admired him as well and put together a collection of his works for the renowned Livraria. In 1634, after Mateo Romero had retired, Patiño became the first non-Franco-Flemish maestro de capilla in the Spanish Hapsburg court. Trained in the cathedral tradition in Seville under the tutelage of Alonso Lobo, he developed his own musical style which combined his interest in counterpoint with the use of multiple choirs. From his extensive corpus of Latin vocal music, widely disseminated throughout the principal ecclesiastic centres of Spain and America, Albert Recasens and La Grande Chapelle have extracted some gems. The selection of pieces, many dedicated to the Virgin Mary, not only manifest the quality and originality of Patiño’s work, but also reveal a fascinating amalgam of compositional procedures which are invariably used to underline the meaning of the words

On 1 March 1620, the festa a ballo Delizie di Posillipo was performed at the Royal Palace of Naples to celebrate the recovery of King Philip III. Promoted by the Viceroy Pedro Gir�n, 3rd Duke of Osuna, the spectacle featured splendid stage designs by Bartolomeo Cartaro and music by some of Naples' finest composers: Pietro Antonio Giramo, Giacomo Spiardo, Andrea Ansalone, and especially Francesco Lambardi and Giovanni Maria Trabaci, maestro di cappella and organist of the viceregal chapel. As in the great court intermedii, the performance combined arias, canzonettas, and dances, with alternating instrumental groups. On stage, Pan and Venus, symbols of the terrestrial and marine realms, compete for Posillipo, but the contest ends with a solemn final dance. La Grande Chapelle faithfully revives this sumptuous ballo, framed by the religious ceremonies and music organised by the Spanish court in Naples, a brilliant reflection of it's power, multicultural identity, and Baroque splendour.

The Forty Hours devotion is a mysterious celebration that consists of displaying the Blessed Sacrament on the altar for the time Christ remained in the tomb. In Spain this extraordinary prayer, lasting over three days, included siestas during which chamber vocal works were sung interspersed with instrumental pieces. Focusing on the music of Sebastian Duron, this album recreates the sound of one of these siestas using cathedral sources and the distinctive sonority of the dulcians. It mainly features tonos and villancicos, whose popular texts are a marvellous blend of simplicity and sophistication. The composer's art undoubtedly lies in expressing religious emotion using the same means as profane emotion: we are in church and at the same time surrounded by nature, like in a poem by Saint Francis of Assisi.

The enormous popularity enjoyed by the works of Jose de Nebra, the leading Spanish composer in the mid-18th century, is a cause for surprise. His manuscripts are scattered across archives throughout Spain and the Americas. Jose de Nebra rose to be one of the organists of the Spanish Royal Chapel in 1724 and it's vicemaestro from 1751. Following the 1750 prohibition of performing villancicos in the royal institution, Nebra composed a complete series of Christmas Day responsories for the Matins service. From among the different versions, La Grande Chapelle offers the full version from 1752, which is unquestionably one of the indispensable works of Spanish Baroque music. The performance of this collection, following the study and transcription of the musical sources still in existence, represents a premiere of great musicological and artistic interest.

La Grande Chapelle would not normally dedicate two separate albums to the same musician, but the relevance of Carlos Patiño and his long career as a composer at the service of the Spanish Court more than justifies a second look at his work. In addition to his vocal production in Latin, Patiño cultivated various musical genres in Spanish, mainly tonos and villancicos, which were written to liven up court parties and for devotion at the Royal Chapel. This album brings together pieces written in a minute format, generally four voices with thoroughbass, that are characterized by rhythmic richness and an intimate relationship with the poetic text. It is an important compilation for delving into Patiño’s work and, ultimately, for approaching the lesser-known music of the Spanish Golden Age.