Cristóbal Galán (c. 1630 – 24 September 1684) was a Spanish Baroque composer. The first record of Galán is that in 1651 he was rejected as ''maestro de capilla'' in

Sigüenza Sigüenza () is a city in the La Serranía, Serranía de Guadalajara Comarcas of Castile-La Mancha, comarca, Province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. History The site of the ancient ''Segontia'' ('dominating over the valley') of the C ...

because he was married. From 1653 he was a singer and organist, then later ''maestro de capilla'' in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

; then from 1656 to 1659 in

Morella, Castellon Morella () is an ancient walled city located on a hill-top in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The town is the capital and administrative centre of the ''comarca'' of Els Ports, in the historic Maestrat (Maestrazgo) reg ...

. From 1660 to 1663 he worked in Madrid, in an unknown position. From 1664 to 1667 he was ''maestro de capilla'' at

Segovia Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and of Saint Fructus is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the Spanish city of Segovia. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and to Saint Fructus and is the seat of the Dioc ...

, then moving to the

Convent of Las Descalzas Reales The Convent of Las Descalzas Reales () is a royal monastery situated in Madrid, Spain, administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. History The ''Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales'', literally the "Monastery of the Royal Discalced", resides in ...

, Madrid, where in 1680, five years after the death of

Carlos Patiño Carlos Patiño ( Cuenca 1600Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population ...

, he became director of the ''capilla real.'' He died in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. In letters written in Madrid in 1675 and 1681 to

Miguel de Irízar Miguel de Irízar y Domenzain (1635–1684) was a Spanish Baroque composer. Irízar was born in Artajona and trained as a choirboy in León and Toledo. In August 1657 he became ''maestro de capilla'' in Vitoria, then in August 1671 appointed ...

, Galán is cited as Madrid's principal composer of sacred music, since

Juan Hidalgo de Polanco Juan Hidalgo de Polanco (28 September 1614 – 31 March 1685) was a Spanish composer and harpist who became the most influential composer of his time in the Hispanic world writing the music for the first two operas created in Spanish. He is con ...

was only interested in writing ''

tonos humanos The tono humano (secular song) was one of the main genres of 17th Century Spanish and Portuguese music. :The term ''tonadas'' is also used for ''tonos humanos'' in 17th Century musical literature but the 17th Century ''tonada'' is to be distinguis ...

.'' A generation later his style was still respected by

Francisco Valls Francisco Valls or Francesc Valls (Barcelona 1665/1671 – 2 February 1747) was a Spanish composer, theorist and '' mestre de capella.'' Among his most known works are the mass ''Missa Scala Aretina'' and tract ''Mapa Armónico Práctico''. Life In ...

Works

As with other Spanish Baroque composers, many works were lost in a fire at the royal archives. None of his music for ''autos sacramentales'' by

Calderón Calderón () is a Spanish and occupational surname. It is derived from the Vulgar Latin "''caldaria''" ("cauldron") and refers to the occupation of tinker. "Calderón" without any further specifics usually refers to Pedro Calderón de la Barca, t ...

survives. Complete edition by J.H. Baron and D.L. Heiple. * Missa a 12 * Missa a 9 * Magnificat a 12 * St John Passion, a 8 1672 * Litany a 6 * Lamentations a 7 * 5 Motets: Hoc est corpus a 3. Laudate Dominum a 8. O beata virgo a 9. Salve a 5. Stella coeli a 8. * Stabat mater for 3 soloists, violin and basso continuo. * ''

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, Ped ...

'' for 1 to 13 voices. * ''Tonos divinos'': ''Atencion al retrato'' etc.Jerónimo Nieto Magdaleno, Rita Goldberg ''Tonos a lo divino y a lo humano''. * ''

Tonos humanos The tono humano (secular song) was one of the main genres of 17th Century Spanish and Portuguese music. :The term ''tonadas'' is also used for ''tonos humanos'' in 17th Century musical literature but the 17th Century ''tonada'' is to be distinguis ...

'' * Theatre music including for plays by Juan Bautista Diamante (1625–1687): ''Lides de amor y desdén. El labyrinto de Creta''.

Discography

* Cristobal Galan: Al espejo que retrata. Al Ayre Espanol dir Eduardo Lopez Banzo. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi DHM 05472 773762 Tr 10.

References

Spanish Baroque composers 1630s births 1684 deaths Spanish male classical composers 17th-century Spanish classical composers 17th-century Spanish male musicians {{Spain-composer-stub