Ensemble Al ayre espanol has plunged into the black music hole of 17th and 18th century Spain. There is more between Guerrero and Granados than was thought. The keyword in this era is Villancico. Originally, the villancico was a secular verse song. The religious villancicos, forbidden by the king in 1596, were nevertheless given a place in the liturgy. Later, the villancico was more and more focused
… on the Christmas scene and often accompanied instrumentally. In the 18th century, the villancico grew into a grand cantata for ecclesiastical heyday. Examples from this Spanish Baroque have now been collected on CD with the composers' names: Antonio Literes, Christobßl Galßn and JosÚ de Torres. (LW)more
