Concert at the Madrid Museum recalled the era of El Greco

Madrid. In the Auditorium of the Prado Museum, the music that recalls the time in which one of The Greco (1541-1614).

Pieces such as the SIBILA SONG and Motes, or religious songs in Latin that were heard in the main cities in which the painter left footprint: Crete, Venice, Rome, Madrid and Toledo, where he died and was buried by personal decision in the monastery of Santo Domingo El Old.

In that religious temple he left paintings and leaflets that are part of an exhibition in the Prado Museum, in which that work is recreated to which he dedicated part of his last years of life.

The concert title was The Musician’s Horeyo is eats Loyo del Pintor, which translated into Spanish means The musician’s ear is like the painter’s eye. This phrase found her signed on the margins of an architecture book of the Personal Library of The Greco, Written of his handc and lyrics, in which he establishes the sensory connection between music and painting, which was, in turn, the zenith of both the musical research, carried out by the academic Carlos Martínez Gil, as of the concert, for which ancient instruments of the time were also used, executed by the assembly the Violondrina, quintet founded and directed by the Venezuelan María Saturn, who also was part of the Simon Simon Bolívar

The concert was a sensory journey from the native Greece of The Greco Until his last days in Toledo, so the choice of instruments was crucial: an organ, a key, Violas da Gamba soprano, tenor and mezzoosoprano, and two violas da gamba bass. Thus, little by little they went into that world of the 16th century, from the Venice of the bustle of commercial exchange, with innovative musical printers and the sound opulence of the Basilica of San Marcos, to the Castilian sobriety of the city of Toledo.

As a sound palette, in which the intention was to make a ALFA AND A OMEGA In the vital tour of The Greco, Works of key composers of the sixteenth century were heard, such as Orlando Di Lasso, Cristóbal de Morales, Claudio Merulo, Mateo Flecha The young man, Andrea Gabrielli, Giovanni Maria Nanino, Diego Ortiz, GP da Palestrina, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Fabrizio Caroso, Antonio de Cabezón and the teachers of Capilla de la Cathedral de Toledo, Andrés de Torrentes and Alonso de Tejeda.

Carlos Martínez explained that the concert “offers an original tour of the painter’s sound landscape throughout his life, illustrating some of his paintings collected in the exhibition with musical works of the moment, so it includes representative pieces of each vital stage of the painter, from the Venetian burles to the motetes and liturgical works that could accompany his settlement in Toledo. In addition to SIBILA SONG, traditionally interpreted in the cathedral of Toledo on Christmas night, which resonates with the spirituality and symbolism so characteristic in the work of El Greco ”.

The musicologist, who is part of the Complutense Institute of Musical Sciences, explained that “the arrival of The Greco To Toledo, in 1577, marked the beginning of a new stage in his life, in which music also played a relevant role. It is said that the painter hired musicians to liven up his evenings, a luxury that, if true, would be unusual at the time. Among the composers linked to the cathedral of Toledo during his stay in the city stands The Greco I was doing The burial of the Lord of Orgaz for his parish of Santo Tomé. ”

The Violondrina assembly was created in 2018 by the instrumentalist and researcher María Saturn. His name refers to the metaphor of the musical flight coined by Vicente Huidobro. Since its foundation they have specialized in rescuing little traveled repertoires, especially the Renaissance and the first baroque. The members, in addition to its director, are Agnieszka Grywacz, Jorge López-Scripano, Lixsania Fernández, María Medina and Sara Ruiz.