XXVIII Academia de Órgano
Fray Joseph de Echevarría

Baroque organ music from Northern, Central and Southern Germany

Keyboard music in Spanish Italy

With Charles V’s victory at Pavia (1525), Spanish dominance in Italy began, solidified by the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), which confirmed control over Milan, Naples, and Sicily. At the court of Charles V, and even more so at that of Philip II, the arts and music were highly valued. From 1526, Antonio de Cabezón entered the scene, accompanying Philip on his travels across Europe, including Milan, profoundly influencing composers with the novelty of forms, the perfection of writing, and contrapuntal style.

During this period, the attribution of a common repertoire to different instruments, such as the tecla, vihuela, and harp, became a common feature. In 1557, Venegas de Henestrosa introduced a new notation system (cifra nueva) with the declared aim of making the vihuela repertoire accessible to keyboard players.

Between the late Renaissance and early Baroque, the music of Neapolitan composers played a crucial role in the development of the modern style that would profoundly influence Girolamo Frescobaldi and his successors. The Neapolitan school, renowned for its elaboration of innovative forms and styles, significantly contributed to the definition of a new musical language. The experiments of composers such as Giovanni de Macque, Ascanio Mayone, and Giovanni Maria Trabaci, already absorbed by Ferrarese masters like Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Ercole Pasquini, formed the foundation of the language that Frescobaldi adopted, laying the groundwork for modern instrumental style. Active in the Spanish-controlled southern Italy, two of the most important Italian followers of Frescobaldi also stood out: Bernardo Storace and Giovanni Salvatore.

The Iberian organ: between antiquity and modernity