La Grande Chapelle and Schola Antiqua
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La Grande Chapelle
| Singers: | Alena (soprano), Gabriel Díaz Cuesta (countertenor), Leandro Marziotte (countertenor), Marcio Soares (countertenor/tenor), Jeffrey Thomson (tenor), Olivier Dumait (tenor), Ruairi Bowen (tenor), Elías Benito (bass), Matthew Gouldstone (bass), Néstor |
| Cornetto: | Josué Meléndez |
| Sackbuts: | Miguel Tantos and Adam Woolf |
| Dulcian Bassoon: | Carles Cristóbal |
| Theorbo: | Juan Carlos Rivera |
| Violone: | Marta Vicente |
| Positif Organ: | Menno Van Delft |
| Director: | Albert Recasens |
Schola Antiqua
| Members: | Miguel Ángel Asensio Palacios, Javier Blasco Blanco, Enrique de la Fuente González, Miguel, García Rodríguez, Antonio de Gregoria Jabato, Jorge Luis Gómez Ríos, Benjamín González García, Antonio Miguel Jiménez Serrano, José Manuel Martín-Delgado Sánchez, Benigno A. Rodríguez García, Jesús María Roman Ruíz del Moral, Federico Rubio García |
| Director: | Juan Carlos Asensio |
The celebration of the 4th centennial of Miguel de Cervantes' death in 2016 is the best occasion to pay tribute not only to the great genius of Spanish literature, but also to other prominent figures of the arts and culture of the Spanish Golden Era. Mateo Romero (1575-1647), cappellmeister of the Royal Chapel between 1598 and 1633 (during the reigns of Phillip III and Phillip IV) was the main composer at the Spanish Court in 1616, year of Cervantes' death. The so-called 'Maestro Capitán' excelled in the composition of polyphonic music for double choir (modern stile), very much in fashion at the time in Europe's main musical centres and most especially at Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice. His Requiem for double choir to be will be performed in Madrid on April 21st within the 33rd Edition of the Festival de Otoño a Primavera is one of Romero's best works, imbued with great solemnity and achieving an impeccable vocal style.
Thanks to the collaboration of the prestigious musicologist Juan Carlos Asensio, the evening's programme reconstructs a requiem mass from the period with the characteristic alternance of polyphony and Gregorian chant, the latter taken from the early 17th Century choir books of the Monastery of El Escorial. The selection is completed with matin responsories from the funeral service, sung at the time during the absolutions, and the breathtaking psalm De Profundis, recited or intoned by the clerics during the procession for the depositio or burial of the deceased. A few of the responses included in the programme are the work of another of Cervantes' contemporaries, Zaragoza born Pedro Ruimonte (1565-1627), renowned for being no less than the cappelmeister of Archduke Alberto, governor of the Low Countries. His solemn works (in the Missae sex) were published in Antwerp in 1614.
The present programme Requiem for Cervantes which will be presented at the Church of San Jerónimo el Real, was recorded by La Grande Chapelle in 2005 (LAU 002). It became a musical document of great importance which recuperated some of the most important works from the musical heritage of the early 17th Century, setting them in their original liturgical context. The recording was reissued in 2016 by the Community of Madrid.