Ana Lombardía

En este ensayo se evalúa si los Seis dúos para dos violines op. 3 de Luigi Boccherini constituyeron una referencia para los compositores de dúos activos en Madrid. En la década de 1770 se observa un auge del género en la ciudad, donde entonces se re-edita dicha colección de Boccherini, una de las primeras de este tipo impresas en España. Este trabajo aborda la recepción contemporánea de los dúos de Boccherini en Madrid, poniendo el foco en el mercado musical del momento y el análisis estilístico de las obras conservadas. Se discute en qué medida aspectos específicos de esta colección pudieron resultar novedosos en Madrid, así como su impacto en compositores locales como J. Herrando, M. Plá, J. Castel, G. Brunetti, M. Canales y J. Oliver. Se comparan siete colecciones de distintos compositores aplicando metodologías de estudio novedosas, como una clasificación de texturas musicales basada en los estudios sobre el cuarteto de cuerda de Mara Parker y otros autores.

Spain has been virtually neglected in Tartini scholarship so far. However, a
number of hitherto little-known musical and documentary sources show that his accompanied violin sonatas were known, praised, and imitated in Madrid during the second half of the eighteenth century. Amateur musicians collected this music, and professional musicians performed it in different chamber music venues in the city, as well as composing sonatas that bear clear formal similarities with those of Tartini. The following violinists played a leading role in this process: Domingo Rodil and Bonifazio Zlotek, members of Madrid' s Royal Chapel; Mauro d' Ala y and Christiano Reynaldi, chamber musicians of the widowed queen Elizabeth Farnese, Reynaldi being a probable student of Tartini; and Jakob Leydeck, a German disciple of the Istrian Maestro. Also, a process of canonization of Tartini's works is detected in several essays written in Madrid around the turn of the nineteenth century.

Since the mid-eighteenth century the fandango has been regarded as the epitome of Spanish cultural identity. It became increasingly popular in instrumental chamber music, as well-known examples by Domenico Scarlatti, Antonio Soler and Luigi Boccherini show. To date, published musicological scholarship has not considered the role of solo violin music in the dissemination of the fandango or the shaping of a ‘Spanish’ musical identity. Now, eight rediscovered pieces – which can be dated to the period 1730–1775 – show that the violin was frequently used to perform fandangos, including stylized chamber-music versions. In addition to offering evidence of the violin's role in the genre, these pieces reveal the hybridization of the fandango with foreign musical traditions, such as the Italian violin sonata and French courtly dances, demonstrating hitherto overlooked negotiations between elite and popular culture in mid-eighteenth-century Spain. Analysis of these works’ musical features challenges traditional discourses on the ‘Spanishness’ of the fandango and, more broadly, on the opposition between ‘native’ and ‘foreign’ music in eighteenth-century Spain.

The sonatas for violin and accompaniment by José Herrando (Valencia, ca. 1720–Madrid, 1763) have undergone various transformations since the 1920s, reflecting a process of continuous ‘re-creation’ that illustrates the latest notions of ‘musical work’. Changes in performance practice, especially the emergence of Historically Informed Perfomance since the 80s, have given rise to several waves of revival for Herrando’s music, from different perspectives. In this process, key figures of Hispanic musicology and ‘early music’ have participated, including José Subirá, Joaquín Nin, and Emilio Moreno, together with less remembered musicians, such as Josefina Salvador. This process is still ongoing, as shown by recent performances by Fabio Biondi, the finalists of the Francesco Maria Ruspoli Competition, or Concerto 1700.
Herrando’s sonatas have appeared and disappeared intermittently from concert halls, musical editions, and sound recordings, without ever being consolidated in the repertoire, thus justifying new ‘resurrections’ a few years later. This case study shows that the re-premiere is a key element of early-music marketing and that the ‘recuperation’ of forgotten music has to face the pressure of a conservative canon.
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RESUMEN
Las sonatas para violín y acompañamiento de José Herrando (Valencia, ca. 1720–Madrid, 1763) han sufrido diversas transformaciones desde la década de 1920, reflejando un proceso de “re-creación” continua que ilustra las últimas definiciones de “obra musical”. Con los cambios de la práctica interpretativa, en especial el auge de la interpretación historicista desde los años ochenta, se han producido varias oleadas de revival de esta música desde distintas ópticas. En este proceso han participado figuras clave de la musicología y la “música antigua” hispanas, como José Subirá, Joaquín Nin o Emilio Moreno, junto a músicos menos recordados, como Josefina Salvador. El proceso continúa vivo, como muestran las interpretaciones recientes de Fabio Biondi, los finalistas del Concurso Francesco Maria Ruspoli o Concerto 1700.
Estas sonatas han ido apareciendo y desapareciendo intermitentemente de las salas de conciertos, las ediciones musicales y las grabaciones sonoras, sin llegar a consolidarse en el repertorio, justificando así nuevas “resurrecciones” pocos años después. Este ejemplo muestra que el re-estreno es un elemento clave del marketing de la “música antigua” y que la “recuperación” de repertorios olvidados se enfrenta al peso de un canon conservador.

Overview on the musical activity of Maria Luisa of Bourbon (1782-1824), Queen of Etruria, first female Spanish composer of symphonies. She was also an active patron of music, literature and the visual arts, including patronage to female artists.
Result of my research at the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome, 2017
See also Broadcast, "Son Regina e sono amante"

The duet for two unaccompanied violins was cultivated intensely throughout Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century, when it served not only a didactic function, but was also used for entertainment and purely aesthetic needs. Madrid-based composers took part in this European trend, especially from 1770 onwards, as local inventories, advertisements, and musical sources clearly show. More than a hundred violin duets from the Spanish capital have been located, including works by fourteen different composers and anonymous arrangements of fashionable dances. Whereas the dances are generally simple pieces suited to amateurs, the duets attributed to specific composers reflect a wide variety of formal models and technical levels. Furthermore, the genre illustrates the integration of Madrid in the international trade of chamber music: editions from Paris and London quickly reached Madrid, while local composers such as José Castel and Manuel Pla also published sets of duets abroad. In sum, this genre portrays Madrid as an up-to-date musical centre in the field of violin repertoires.

*Basado en el artículo sobre la colección de Parma:
Lluís Bertran, Ana Lombardía y Judith Ortega (2015). "La colección de manuscritos españoles de los Reyes de Etruria en la Biblioteca Palatina de Parma (1794-1824): Un estudio de fuentes". Revista de Musicología, XXXVIII (1), 107-190. Disponible en Academia

*Grupo de Investigación MECRI: https://www.unirioja.es/mecri/
Actualmente MECRI desarrolla el Proyecto I+D “La música como interpretación en España: historia y recepción, 1730-1930” (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, PID2019-105718GB-I00).