José de Nebra

José Melchor Baltasar Gaspar Nebra Blasco (January 6, 1702 – July 11, 1768) was a Spanish composer. His work combines Spanish traditions with the Italian style of his day.

Biography

José de Nebra was born in Calatayud^[1] and was taught by his father, José Antonio Nebra Mezquita (1672–1748), organist and master of choirboys at the Cathedral of Cuenca from 1711 until 1729. Two brothers were also musicians: Francisco Javier Nebra Blasco (1705–1741), organist of La Seo in Zaragoza until he moved to Cuenca in 1729, then succeeded by his brother Joaquín Ignacio Nebra Blasco (1709–1782) till his death.^[2] José was locked up for many years in house arrest because he appeared in the letters seized from the Marquis Jaime José Ignacio Velaz de Medrano y Barros who conspired to place Ferdinand VI on the throne instead of his father Philip V. He died in Madrid.

More than 170 works by Nebra survive: masses, psalms, litanies, a Stabat Mater, a Salve Regina, cantatas, villancicos, and around thirty keyboard works. But his significance is as the leading late-Baroque composer of Spanish opera and zarzuela.^[3]

Works

Sacred works

Aromática rosa Americana
Miserere
Para un triunfo que el orbe
Requiem for Queen Barbara of Braganza
Rompan los vagos espacios
Salve regina
Cantata: Entre candidos bellos

Operas

Amor aumenta el valor (collective work, 1st act only), Lisbon 1728
Venus y Adonis, 1729
Más gloria es triunfar de sí. Adriano in Syria, 1737
No todo indicio es verdad. Alexander in Asia, 1744
Antes que zelos y amor, la piedad llama al valor. Achilles in Troy 1747

Zarzuelas

Las proezas de Esplandián y el valor deshace encantos, 1729
Amor, ventura y valor logran el triunfo mayor, 1739
Viento es la dicha de amor, 1743
Donde hay violencia, no hay culpa, 1744
Vendado es Amor, no es ciego, 1744
Cautelas contra cautelas y el rapto de Ganimedes, 1745
La colonia de Diana, 1745
Para obsequio a la deydad, nunca es culto la crueldad. Iphigenia en Tracia (Thrace), 1747
No hay perjurio sin castigo, 1747

Notable performances

The composer's 250th anniversary in 2018 saw the programming of some of his works, for example at Musica Antigua Aranjuez, the early music festival at Aranjuez. A performance of the opera Venus y Adonis has been scheduled for 2019 by the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical.^[4]

Selected recordings

1996 - Viento es la dicha de amor (zarzuela). Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, dir. Christophe Coin. Naïve
2001 – Miserere. Al Ayre Español. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi
Sonata, op. 1 no. 4 for harpsichord, performed by Janine Johnson
2005 – La Cantada Española en América. Al Ayre Español. Harmonia Mundi
2006 - Vispera de Confesores. La Grande Chapelle, dir. Àngel Recasens. Lauda Musica
2006 - Arias de Zarzuelas. María Bayo, Al Ayre Español, dir. Eduardo López Banzo. Harmonia Mundi
2010 – Amor aumenta el valor (opera). Los Músicos de Su Alteza. Alpha
2011 - Cantatas. Esta Dulzura Amable. Al Ayre Español, dir. Eduardo López Banzo. Challenge Classics
2011 - Principio des Maitines de Navidad; Responsorium I, Nocturno 1, Nativitatis Domini. "Madrid 1752, Madrid Barroco, dir. Grover Wilkins. Dorian
2011 - Iphigenia en Tracia (zarzuela). El concierto español, dir. Emilio Moreno. Glossa
2019 - Requiem. La Madrileña - Coro Victoria - Schola Antiqua, dir. José Antonio Montaño. Pan Classics
2020 - Vendado es Amor, no es ciego (zarzuela). Los Elementos, dir.Alberto Miguélez Rouco. Glossa
2021 - Cantadas Francisco Corselli & José de Nebra. Los Elementos, dir.Alberto Miguélez Rouco. PanClassics
2022 - Donde hay violencia, no hay culpa (zarzuela). Los Elementos, dir.Alberto Miguélez Rouco. Glossa
2025 - Venus y Adonis (opera). Los Elementos, dir.Alberto Miguélez Rouco. Aparté

References

^ Antonio Ezquerro Esteban (2002). "Nuevas datos para el estudio de los musicos Nebra en Aragon". Anuario Musical (in Spanish). 57: 113.
^ (in Spanish) José Nebra, Obras inéditas para tecla (unpublished works for keyboard) edited by Maria-Salud Alvarez, Tecla Aragonesa III, (Institución Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza, 1995)^{[page needed]}
^ Salter, Lionel. "José de Nebra Viento des la Dicha de Amor". Gramophone. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^ "Venus y Adonis". Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música. Retrieved 2018-06-12.

External links

Free scores by José de Nebra in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
Música Colonial Management Site Archived 2011-08-13 at the Wayback Machine Includes manuscripts of works by Nebra
[1] Instituto Fernando el Catolico for published editions

[1] Antonio Ezquerro Esteban (2002). "Nuevas datos para el estudio de los musicos Nebra en Aragon". Anuario Musical (in Spanish). 57: 113.

[2] (in Spanish) José Nebra, Obras inéditas para tecla (unpublished works for keyboard) edited by Maria-Salud Alvarez, Tecla Aragonesa III, (Institución Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza, 1995)^{[page needed]}

[3] Salter, Lionel. "José de Nebra Viento des la Dicha de Amor". Gramophone. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

[CNDM-4] "Venus y Adonis". Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música. Retrieved 2018-06-12.

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