Soler / Grande Chapelle - Obra Vocal en Latin - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Antonio Rodríguez de Hita is renowned as the creator of comic zarzuela during the 1760s. However, his scant theatrical works have overshadowed the vast majority of his musical legacy, primaril y sacred in nature and composed for the prestigious Monastery of the Incarnation in Madrid, a Royal foundation. His religious works embrace a hybrid musical style, encompassing elements of late Baroque and Classical periods, stile antico, and theatrical language. In his Latin repertoire, Rodríguez de Hita displays a particular affinity for counterpoint and formal experimentation. The selection presented, drawn from his series of psalms, hymns, motets, lamentations, and especially Epiphany responsories, allows us to appreciate this fascinating musician and the richness of sacred music during the Enlightenment period

Situated on the very western edge of Europe, Santiago de Compostela has been a spiritual and artistic center since the Middle Ages. In the seventeenth century, it's cathedral enjoyed a golden age that led to the transformation of it's Romanesque structure into a Baroque landmark. There, a polychoral style was abundantly cultivated, giving both solemnity and grandeur to religious ceremonies. Among the maestros that served the Compostela cathedral, José de Baquedano stands out. A Navarran composer who perfected his artform with Matías Ruiz at the Royal Monastery of the Incarnation in Madrid, he left a notable vocal legacy in Spanish and Latin after three decades of practice. Therein, his pieces written for Holy Week are especially remarkable. This recording offers a novel anthology of Baquedano's Latin work, with a selection of motets, psalms and lamentations written for two and three choirs, revealing the magnificent talent of this composer from Finisterre.

Two composers, two works devoted to Our Lady, and two ways of expressing sorrow and supplication through music. This recording brings together Domenico Scarlatti and Jose de Nebra around two of the great texts of Marian devotion. Scarlatti's Stabat Mater, one of the pinnacles of the sacred vocal repertoire, dazzles with it's imposing ten-voice writing and refined contrapuntal craft. Nebra's setting-composed within the milieu of the Real Capilla for a reduced ensemble-possesses remarkable expressive power and a pronounced theatrical accent. In his Salve Regina for solo soprano, strings, and continuo, Scarlatti explores a more intimate and virtuosic dimension in what is considered his final work. Nebra, by contrast, chooses an expressive restraint for the same text. La Grande Chapelle thus presents a compelling dialogue between two major figures of eighteenth-century music in the Iberian Peninsula, whose paths converged around the figure of Queen Maria Barbara of Braganza.