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There was a time when the existence of musical formations that acted ascribed to the cathedrals and main churches of the most important populations was a constant. A time in which these formations developed their activity in the framework of the various religious celebrations of the year. A time in which the professional musicians who composed those formations, had in the day to day of the churches a concrete physical and temporary space where to put into practice their trade. We speak of a relatively distant time, we speak, of course, of the music chapels. Santa María del Coro de San Sebastián, was no exception.
The massive loss of historical documentation about the city occurred with the fire of 1813, makes it practically impossible to give an exact date when the original Capilla de Música de Santa María could be formed, but although the oldest citations that exist take us back in the middle of the 18th century, it is very likely that, as in its nearby Church of San Vicente, professional and remunerated musical activity was already a reality at least two centuries before.
Assuming that data were good, we would speak of a more or less stable formation that for approximately three centuries -the track of its activity was lost at the beginning of the 20th century- was acting in a regular way in the then Parish of Santa María, of a formation in which illustrious musicians such as Miguel de Oruña, Mateo Pérez de Albéniz and his son Pedro, José Juan Santesteban (Maisua) and his son José Antonio -the last of the known masters- were Capilla Masters, in short, a formation with a certain solera and history that like many other similar groups could disappear in the time drowned by the accumulation of diverse causes: budgetary reductions derived from the disentailments of the XIX, progressive substitution of professional musicians by amateurs, appearance of the great romantic organs that could "replace" to an entire orchestra etc.
But whatever the main cause of the disappearance of the original Capilla de Música de Santa María, the reality is that with this disappearance a formation of great tradition was lost for the city, a formation whose activity revolved around the liturgical calendar and around immense and rich repertoire that constitutes the sacred music literature of all time. And it is that tradition and that repertoire that we want to attend from this "recovery - recreation" of the Capilla de Santa María del Coro that they propose and whose concert of presentation is this that they offer.
There is an immense and wonderful repertoire of sacred music waiting to be performed, they have a wide and experienced group of instrumentalists and singers willing to regularly offer a rich, varied and interesting program, they have an emblematic space such as Santa María del Coro ... they only need the support of an audience that makes this trip possible with their presence. |
