Il Festino

Since the 17^th century Spanish music has fluctuated between the learned and the popular. Cut off by the frontiers of the Peninsula, with its history so different from that of the rest of Europe, Spanish music pushes its possibilities to the limit, alternately making light of its ‘Spanishness’ and playing it up in order to distinguish itself from other European countries. This tension between learned and comic traditions continued right up until the 20th century to animate the canción española – a unique genre, with a success unparalleled in Europe, whose sound-world is midway between art music and popular music. This concert traverses three centuries of this complex and eclectic tradition – three centuries of fertile contrasts, three centuries of Spanish music. The tonos humanos of the 17^th century, the songs of period after the  War of the Spanish Succession , the popular songs of the 19^th century and the songs setting the words of Lorca offer snapshots or cross-sections of a musical history, revealing obvious differences but displaying a unity of spirit and intention.

Music from Manuel López Quiroga, Henri Collet, F. M. Alvarez, Federico García Lorca, Diego Pisador, José Marin

José Canales tenor
Manuel de Grange lute & guitar