José Castel (1737 in

Tudela, Navarre Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Navarre and twice a former Latin bishopric. Its population is around 35,000. The city is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electrif ...

– 1807) was a Spanish composer. José Castel was a church musician in his native Tudela and

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

before moving to Madrid around 1760. There, in addition to his church duties, he was active as a theatrical composer, for the Teatro del Príncipe, as well as a printer and publisher. Castel was well paid for his music, for example he received 360 reales for the music for the comedy ''El Faetón''. In 1773 he moved back to Tudela, as ''maestro de capilla'' at the Colegiata de Santa Maria, yet he continued, circa 1774-1782, to still be based in Madrid and spend more time on theatrical activities. In 1797, following the death of his wife, he was ordained a priest, dying on Sept. 2nd 1807 and being buried in Tudela Cathedral. He was particularly regarded for his

tonadilla Tonadilla was a Spanish musical song form of theatrical origin; not danced. The genre was a type of short, satirical musical comedy popular in 18th-century Spain, and later in Cuba and other Spanish colonial countries. It originated as a song type, ...

Selected recordings

* ''La fontana del placer''. Zarzuela in two acts. Compañía Teatro del Príncipe, dir.

Pablo Heras-Casado Pablo Heras-Casado (born 1977) is a Spanish conductor. Early life The son of a retired police officer, he began singing with a school choir at the age of seven and piano lessons at the age of nine. He studied music at the conservatory in Grana ...

. Música Antigua Aranjuez MAA 007 (77:00) Literary research, transcription and musical edition: Juan Pablo Fernández-Cortés Review by Christopher Webber 2009
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References

* Aranjuez recupera "La fontana del Placer
Noticia en "El Pais"
* Juan Pablo Fernández-Cortés, "La fontana del Placer" Study and editio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castel, Jose 1737 births 1807 deaths Spanish classical composers Spanish male classical composers Spanish opera composers Male opera composers