Juan Hidalgo: Music for the Planet King

Although he is primarily remembered as the creator of zarzuela and Spanish opera, the sacred and secular vocal chamber music of Baroque composer Juan Hidalgo enjoyed success during his lifetime. Hidalgo's sacred works are perhaps less well known and were composed primarily for specific devotional practices in the palace, and most of his output was likely destroyed in the calamitous fire of the Royal Palace. However a partial restoration of Hidalgo's scores has been possible through recovered manuscripts and in this collection comprised of songs never before released, La Grande Chapelle has selected a varied group of these sacred songs known as tonos and villancicos that greatly illuminate the Baroque culture in Spain of those times.