Early Music America

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Music from the Golden Age of Spain

Spain was the most prosperous country in the 17th century. Explorations by boat brought back shiploads filled with richness from all around the globe. The kings Philips II, III and IV put themselves gladly on the receiving end and loved to display their splendour to visiting royalties. A court chapel with the best musicians of the day was always part of this: Juan de Hidalgo, El Maestro Capitán (Mateo Romero) and Juan Arañés composed multiple songs with texts that were at times sparkling with energy, and other times weepingly sad. They utilized rythms, swepped with envigorating dance or on the contrary, a melancholy cadence. Instrumental works by Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde and Diego Ortiz complete the sound palette. Hidalgo was the most important composer at the Spanish court for theater and secular music, and the creator of a new and through and through Spanish musical genre, the zarzuela. Mateo Romero was born in Liege (Belgium), and emigrated to Spain as a choirboy at the court of Madrid. He became "Maestro de Capilla" at the Spanish court of Filips II and Filips III. Romero was one of the most respected composers of his time, for which he earned the nickname "El Maestro Capitán". Juan Aranes was as "Maestro di Capella" the Spanish musical ambassador, in service of the ambassy in Rome. One of the bundles he composed there was one with villancicos with guitar accompagniment.

 

 

 

 

Sweeter than Roses

Songs by Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) was one of the greatest English composers of all time. His songs are striking in their unique use of rhythm to emphasize the text, giving the music great expressive power and a subtle virtuosity. As a composer for the English theater, Purcell knew how to weave drama into his compositions: the magic of a first kiss; the misery of tragic loss; the panic of a mother fearing for her child – these emotions are made vivid through the magic of Purcell’s treatment.