José Melchor Baltasar Gaspar Nebra Blasco (January 6, 1702 – July 11, 1768) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His work combines Spanish traditions with the Italian style of his day.

Biography

José de Nebra was born in

Calatayud Calatayud (; 2014 pop. 20,658) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Province of Zaragoza, within Aragón, Spain, lying on the river Jalón (river), Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-larges ...

and was taught by his father, José Antonio Nebra Mezquita (1672–1748),

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

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 Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

until he moved to Cuenca in 1729, then succeeded by his brother Joaquín Ignacio Nebra Blasco (1709–1782) till his death. José Nebra, ''Obras inéditas para tecla'' (unpublished works for keyboard) edited by Maria-Salud Alvarez, Tecla Aragonesa III, (Institución Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza, 1995) He died in Madrid. More than 170 works by Nebra survive: masses, psalms, litanies, a

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Sabatier, Paul ''Life o ...

, a

Salve Regina The "Salve Regina" (, ; meaning 'Hail Queen'), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina ...

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of t ...

villancicos The ''villancico'' (Spanish, ) or vilancete (Portuguese, ) was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. Important composers of villancicos were Juan del Encina, Pedro ...

, and around thirty keyboard works. But his significance is as the leading late-Baroque composer of

Spanish opera Spanish opera is both the art of opera in Spain and opera in the Spanish language. Opera has existed in Spain since the mid-17th century. Early history Opera was slow to develop within Spain in comparison to France, Italy and (to a lesser extent) G ...

and

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...

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 Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of Tagus, a bit upstream the discharge of the Jarama. , the municipality h ...

. A performance of the opera ''Venus y Adonis'' has been scheduled for 2019 by the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical.

Selected recordings

*1996 - ''Viento es la dicha de amor'' (zarzuela). Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, dir.

Christophe Coin Christophe Coin (; born 26 January 1958) is a French cellist, viola da gamba player and conductor active in the field of historically informed performance. He is the cellist of the Quatuor Mosaïques and is the director of the Ensemble Baroque de L ...

. Naïve *2001 – ''Miserere''.

Al Ayre Español Al Ayre Español is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specialized on early music founded in 1988 by harpsichordist Eduardo López Banzo.Interview with Eduardo López Banzo owww.odb-opera.com/ref> The name of the ensemble was inspired by the titl ...

. 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 María Josefina Bayo Jiménez (born 28 May 1961 in Fitero) is a Spanish soprano. Bayo studied at the Conservatorio Navarro de Música Pablo Sarasate in Pamplona and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold The Hochschule für Musik Detmold is a univer ...

, Al Ayre Español, dir.

Eduardo López Banzo Eduardo López Banzo is a Spanish harpsichordist and conductor of baroque music. López Banzo was born in Zaragoza, Spain. He studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. In 1988 López Banzo founded the group Al Ayre Español, which sp ...

. 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

References

External links

*
Música Colonial Management Site
Includes manuscripts of works by Nebra

Instituto Fernando el Catolico for published editions {{DEFAULTSORT:Nebra, Jose De 1702 births 1768 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 18th-century Spanish musicians Male opera composers People from Calatayud Spanish Baroque composers Spanish male classical composers Spanish opera composers