Juan Hidalgo de Polanco (28 September 1614 – 31 March 1685) was a Spanish

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 ...

and

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual string (music), strings running at an angle to its sound board (music), soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various way ...

who became the most influential composer of his time in the

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

world writing the music for the first two operas created in Spanish. He is considered by many to be the father 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 of the zarzuela. Hidalgo was born and died in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. In either 1630 or 1631 he became a harpist at the Spanish royal chapel where he was responsible for the accompaniment of both sacred and secular music and also played for the King of Spain, King Philip IV. Around 1645 he began to serve as leader of the court's

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

ians and chief composer of ''

villancico 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 ...

s'', chamber songs, and music for the theatre. He personifies the origins of

with the work '' Celos aun del aire matan'' by the illustrious playwright Calderon de la Barca, based on the story of Cephalus and Procris told in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', released on 5 December 1660 to celebrate the third birthday of prince Felipe Prospero. It is considered the oldest opera preserved in Spain Juan Hidalgo dominated secular and theatrical music at the Spanish court until his death. He was a prolific composer and enjoyed a great deal of popularity throughout his career. His place in Spanish theatre history is equivalent to that of

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

in Britain and

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

in France. He wrote music for at least nine allegorical religious plays that were performed in public for Corpus Christi. His work for the court stages included songs for 16 spoken plays (''comedias''), many partly sung ''

zarzuelas () 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 ...

'' and semi-operas, and two full

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

which are highly regarded. His output also included a large number of sacred ''villancicos'' and some liturgical music. His life is the basis of a novel, '' The Harpist of Madrid'', by the English author Gordon Thomas. Composer Celia Torra based her choral composition ''Las campanas'' on a melody by Hidalgo.

Selected works

* 1656 - ''Pico y Canente'' ( Luis de Ulloa y Pereira) / Comedia pastoral. * 1658? - ''Triunfos de amor y fortuna'' ( Antonio de Solís) / Obra mitológica. In collaboration with Cristobal Galán. * 1658 - ''El laurel de Apolo'' (

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (, ; ; 17 January 160025 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque w ...

) / Zarzuela (missing music). * 1660 - ''

La púrpura de la rosa ''La púrpura de la rosa'' (''The Blood of the Rose'') is an opera in one act, composed by Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco to a Spanish libretto by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, a great writer of the Spanish Golden Age. It is the first known opera ...

'' (Calderón de la Barca) / Ópera (missing music). * 1660 - '' Celos aun del aire matan'' (Calderón de la Barca) / Ópera. * 1661 - ''Eco y Narciso'' (Calderón de la Barca) / Comedia pastoral. * 1661 - ''El hijo del Sol, Faetón'' (Calderón de la Barca). * 1662 - ''Ni amor se libra de amor'' (Calderón de la Barca) /Zarzuela (missing) * 1670 - ''La estatua de Prometeo'' (Calderón de la Barca) / Zarzuela. * 1670 - ''Fieras afemina amor'' (Calderón de la Barca) * 1672 - ''Los celos hacen estrellas'' ( Juan Vélez de Guevara) / Zarzuela (conserved music) * 1672 - ''Alfeo y Aretusa'' (

Juan Bautista Diamante Juan Bautista Diamante (29 August 1625? – 2 November 1687), minor Spanish dramatist of the school of Calderón, was the son of a Portuguese mother and a Sicilian merchant of Greek parentage who came to Madrid some time before 1631. He began ...

) / Zarzuela * 1673 - ''Los juegos olímpicos'' ( Agustín de Salazar y Torres) / Zarzuela * 1675 - ''El templo de Palas'' ( Francisco de Avellaneda). * 1680 - ''Hado y divisa de Leonido y Marfisa'' (Calderón de la Barca) / Ópera. * 1684 - ''Apolo y Leucotea'' ( Pedro Scotti de Agoiz) / Zarzuela. * 1684 - ''Endimión y Diana'' (

Melchor Fernández de León Melchor may refer to: * Melchor (name) * Melchor Island in Chile *Melchor Ocampo, Nuevo León, a municipality in Mexico *Melchor Ocampo, State of Mexico, a town and municipality in Mexico *Villa de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo, a town and municipalit ...

) / Zarzuela * 1684 - ''Ícaro y Dédalo'' (Fernández de León) / Obra mitológica * 1695 - ''El primer templo de Amor'' (Fernández de León) / Mitológica-pastoral

Sources

*Louise K. Stein. The '' New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), and {{DEFAULTSORT:Hidalgo, Juan 1614 births 1685 deaths 17th-century classical composers Spanish Baroque composers Spanish male classical composers Spanish opera composers Male opera composers 17th-century male musicians