Ensemble Il Narvalo

Sacred Music in Malaga Cathedral Ensemble Il Narvalo

Juan Frances de Iribarren Echevarría (1699-1767) received his musical education at the Royal Chapel in Madrid. He was taught there by the composer Jose de Torres who, in 1717, recommended that Iribarren be appointed organist at Salamanca Cathedral. Sixteen years later Iribarren moved on to become maestro de capilla at the Cathedral of Malaga, the city in which he spent the rest of his life. On his death there he left a huge library of his own music - with the proviso that it not be copied and only performed at services in the cathedral. Such constraints have until recently prevented this marvelously vivid music from receiving the attention it deserves. The present album presents a tasting menu of Iribarren's work in various genres and from different periods of his career, Italian vocal styles over native, more vernacular idioms. There are four pieces written to mark the Immaculate Conception, composed over a 22-year period from 1743 to 1764, all unique in form, all devotional but quite different in material and expression. Irribarren's technique encompassed transparent polyphony as well as solo-vocal motets of a homely, often bucolic character. Several pieces here were composed to accompany the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and these are more intimate in tone. The selection focuses on pieces written for one or two solo voices with a small accompanying ensemble, but during his time in charge of the music at Malaga Iribarren assembled a team of 30 singers and instrumentalists including a plainchant choir, cantors, wind and string players, organists and boy choristers. The composer, organist, harpsichordist and conductor Federico del Sordo has a diverse discography on Brilliant Classics encompassing the full range of his musical talents and reviving several little-known Baroque composers such as Fasolo (95512), Bonelli (95816) and Salvatore (95146).