JOSÉ CASTEL: String Trios

Description

ARTISTS: Concerto 1700 | Daniel Pinteño, violin & director

REVIEWS:

“Concerto 1700’s luminous interpretation (…) delves into a very little explored territory of Spanish music.” – Scherzo Magazine.

“This album is a Spanish musical gem from start to finish.” – Opus Klassiek.

“An excellent disc, suitable for connoisseurs and also for audiences who are just starting out in the world of classical music.” – Melómano Magazine.

ALBUM INFORMATION:

Fortunately, the notion of 18th century Spanish music as a wasteland that can offer little of interest to today’s listener is being left behind. This dark picture has been painted based on a lack of knowledge, together with some deeply rooted prejudice on the “age of enlightenment” in Spain, which has been deemed by some as inspired by foreign works and lacking personality, and by others as a failed project with no drive. In recent years, performers and scholars alike have been joining forces to show the music of this period in a more positive light.

One of the composers whose work deserves to come out of oblivion is José Castel. Born in Tudela (Navarra) in November 1737, he received a typical Old Regime chapel master training.

Castel was a skilled and versatile composer who cultivated the various musical genres of his time, from church music to theater and symphonic repertoire. His sacred compositions – which include masses, psalms, misereres and lamentations, as well as cantatas and villancicos – are possibly the least studied part of his work, although they were acclaimed in his time, which is shown by the fact that they are widely scattered in various Spanish and American archives.

Following a common practice in chamber music collections printed at the time, Castel wrote five trios in major keys, and only one, Trio IV, in a minor key. We can observe in them great formal and stylistic variety, typical of a composer who was well versed in different music genres. François Lesure, a great specialist in the history of Parisian music printing, dated the volume around 1785, a date which we can, at least approximately, take for granted. The only known copy of the print can be found in the National Library of France.

In short, this first recording of José Castel’s trios for two violins and bass shows us a composer of great inventiveness and versatility, from who we can expect pleasant surprises in the future.

TRACKS:

Trio I in B flat Major
1. Allegro spiritoso
2. Larghetto
3. Menuetto (Allegretto) – Trio

Trio II in F Major
4. Larghetto – Allegro
5. Menuetto (Andantino) – Trio

Trio III in E flat Major
6. Allegretto Gratioso
7. Larghetto
8. Allegro

Trio IV in G Minor
9. Allegretto Gratioso
10. Andante Largo
11. Rondeau (Allegretto)
12. Menuetto (Andantino) – Trio

Trio V in A Major
13. Allegro
14. Despacio
15. Menuetto (Andantino) – Trio

Trio VI in E Major
16. Cantabile
17. Allegro
18. Menuetto (Allegretto) – Trio