Carlos Mena – Antonio Literes: Sacred cantatas for alto (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

“Don Antonio Literes, composer of the First Order, and perhaps the only one who has managed to combine all the majesty and sweetness of ancient music with the bustle of modern”. With these words Father Feijoo in his Teatro crítico universal (1726) referred to one of the most important Spanish composers of the eighteenth century: Antonio Literes Y Carrión. Born in 1673 in the Mallorcan town of Artá, Literes moved around 1686 to Madrid, where he entered the Royal School of Singing Children, an institution in which he became acting music teacher between 1692 and 1694. In 1693 he was appointed “violin musician” of the Royal Chapel, a position he held until his death in 1747. From 1709, three years after the master Sebastián Durón was exiled to France, Antonio Literes and José de Torres were entrusted with the composition of music for the Royal Chapel, a work that Literes continued to perform after Torres ‘ rise in 1720 to the Magisterium of that institution.

The sacred compositions of Antonio Literes, less known but of a level comparable to that of his stage production, are preserved mainly in Madrid, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Toledo and Guatemala. Precisely to the set of works preserved in the Archivo Histórico Archdiocesano de Guatemala, which keeps the musical funds of the cathedral, belong the three cantadas al Santísimo para alto de Literes performed in this concert.

Bucolism is one of the recurring themes in the sacred cantatas of the time, a fact that is related to the human cantatas of arcadic theme that were composed at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Thus, in the cantada Ya por el horizonte (1728) the text alludes to the birds celebrating the Blessed Sacrament –here symbolized by the sun–, comparing their morning singing with the clarinet announcing the day, an instrument that is also associated with the Allegory of Fame. In the last aria Literes opts for a martial music, in line with the warlike tone of the verses “suene a lid, suene a combate”. This cantada still follows the usual pattern of the Hispanic cantada of the first decades of the eighteenth century, combining sections of recitations and arias with other Hispanic tradition, such as coplas and graves.

Tracklist:
1. Carlos Mena – “Ya por el Horizonte” Cantada al Santísimo: I. Ya por el Horizonte (Recitado) (00:50)
2. Carlos Mena – “Ya por el horizonte” Cantada al Santísimo: II. Suene la Alboreada (Aria) (07:04)
3. Carlos Mena – “Ya por el horizonte” Cantada al Santísimo: III. Ay, Que Si Yo Pudiera (Grave) (01:00)
4. Carlos Mena – “Ya por el horizonte” Cantada al Santísimo: IV. Si a Gozar Solo Aspiro (Coplas) (00:45)
5. Carlos Mena – “Ya por el horizonte” Cantada al Santísimo: V. Repite, Ave Canora (Recitado) (01:08)
6. Carlos Mena – “Ya por el horizonte” Cantada al Santísimo: VI. de Su Aplauso en el Empleo (Aria) (07:16)
7. Carlos Mena – “Si el Viento” Cantada al Santísimo: I. Si el Viento (Recitado) (00:51)
8. Carlos Mena – “Si el Viento” Cantada al Santísimo: II. Es el Divino Centro del Hombre (Aria) (05:44)
9. Carlos Mena – “Si el Viento” Cantada al Santísimo: III. por Eso Ha Descendido (Recitado) (00:50)
10. Carlos Mena – “Si el Viento” Cantada al Santísimo: IV. Como Alegres Placenteros (Aria) (05:09)
11. Carlos Mena – “Cuando a Pique, Señor” Cantada al Santísimo: I. Cuando a Pique, Señor (Recitado) (00:53)
12. Carlos Mena – “Cuando a Pique, Señor” Cantada al Santísimo: II. Va Zozobrando la Navecilla (Aria) (04:44)
13. Carlos Mena – “Cuando a Pique, Señor” Cantada al Santísimo: III. ¿Qué Tiene Que Temer? (Recitado) (00:56)
14. Carlos Mena – “Cuando a Pique, Señor” Cantada al Santísimo: IV. Llegue Ansioso Tu Cuidado (Aria) (05:53)
15. Carlos Mena – “De Aquel Fatal Bocado” Cantada al Santísimo: I. de Aquel Fatal Bocado (Recitado) (00:45)
16. Carlos Mena – “de Aquel Fatal Bocado” Cantada al Santísimo: II. Pan de Llanto y de Dolor (Aria) (05:17)
17. Carlos Mena – “de Aquel Fatal Bocado” Cantada al Santísimo: III. Tanto Transforma al Hombre (Recitado) (00:30)
18. Carlos Mena – “de Aquel Fatal Bocado” Cantada al Santísimo: IV. Elévate a Ese Velo (Aria) (05:33)