The ensalada is a genre of polyphonic secular music mixing languages and dialects and nonsensical quodlibets.

The term is known mainly through a publication, Las Ensaladas de Flecha Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 (1581) by Mateo Flecha the younger, that contains six long four-part vocal compositions by his uncle Mateo Flecha

Mateo Flecha

Mateo Flecha was a composer born in Catalonia, in the region of Prades. He is sometimes known as "El Viejo" to distinguish him from his nephew, Mateo Flecha "El Joven" , also a composer of madrigals...

 (1481–1553). Each of these ensaladas is divided into several sections, ranging from seven to twelve. The music is for four voices.

Apart from the ensaladas by Mateo Flecha, there are also two examples by Mateo Flecha the younger, two by Pere Alberch Vila

Pere Alberch Vila

Pere Alberch Vila was a Catalonian baroque composer and organist. He was born Pere Alberc i Ferrament at Vic in 1517; the nickname i Vila comes from a more notable branch of his family.. Alberch trained in the Cathedral of Vic and later, between 1534 and 1536, in Valencia with his uncle Pere Vila...

, several by Bartomeu Càrceres

Bartomeu Càrceres

Bartomeu Càrceres was a Catalan composer, notably of ensaladas.The sole verifiable biographical fact known about him is the record in 1546 of a payment of 72 ducats to him as "carrier of the books" to the capella of the Duke of Calabria, Ferran d'Aragó...

, one by the unknown F. Chacón and several anonymous sources. There is also an instrumental ensalada for organ by Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia

Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia

Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia was a Spanish monk, musician and composer.He was first the organist at the cathedral in Huesca from 1585 to 1603, and then moved to a more prestigious position as maestro de música at La Seo Cathedral in Saragossa. He published a collection of works in 1618, and...

.

Works

Prague 1581

1. El fuego (the fire) - Flecha
2. La bomba (the pump) - Flecha
3. La negrita (the black girl) - Flecha
4. La guerra (the battle) - Flecha
5. El born jorn (the good day) - Pere Alberch Vila
6. La justa (the joust) - Flecha
7. La viuda (the widow) - Flecha
8. La feria (the fair)
9. Las cañas (the pan-pipes)
10. La trulla - Bartomeu Càrceres
    Bartomeu Càrceres
    Bartomeu Càrceres was a Catalan composer, notably of ensaladas.The sole verifiable biographical fact known about him is the record in 1546 of a payment of 72 ducats to him as "carrier of the books" to the capella of the Duke of Calabria, Ferran d'Aragó...
    
    
11. La lucha (the struggle)
12. Los chistes (the jokes)
13. Las cañas II (the pan-pipes II)
14. El molino (the mill)

Supplement

15. El junilate
16. La caza (the hunt)
17. El toro (the bull)
18. La negrina (the black woman)
19. Las cañas III (the pan-pipes III)

Francisco de Peñalosa

Francisco de Peñalosa

Francisco de Peñalosa was a Spanish composer of the middle Renaissance.-Life:He was born in Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo. He spent most of his career in Seville, serving as the maestro di capilla, though he also spent time in Burgos, and three years in Rome at the papal chapel...

1. Por las sierras de Madrid, for 6 voices.
2. Tú que vienes de camino, for 2 voices.

Garcimuñóz (attributed)

1. Una montaña pasando, for 4 voices

Anon.

• Quien madruga Dios le ayuda. Romancero 1612

Sources

Manuscripts

• Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya, Ms 454 (Cancionero de Barcelona).
• Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya. Ms 588 I
• Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya. Ms 588 II.
• Cancionero de Medinaceli
  Cancionero de Medinaceli
  The Cancionero de Medinaceli or Cancionero Musical de Medinaceli is a manuscript containing Spanish music of the Renaissance. It was copied during the second half of the 16th century and kept at the library of the Duke of Medinaceli's house, hence its name...
  
   Palma de Mallorca, Fundación Bartolomé March

Printed editions

• Cancionero de Uppsala. Villancicos de diversos autores. Jerónimo Scotto. Venecia. 1556
• Las ensaladas de Flecha. Mateo Flecha el joven. Editor: Lorge Negrino. Praga. 1581. (only bass survives)
• Le difficile de Chansons. Second Livre. Jacques Moderne
  Jacques Moderne
  Jacques Moderne was an Italian-born music publisher active in France in the Renaissance Era....
  
  . Lyon. La justa, titled La Bataille en Spagnol.

Transcriptions for voice and vihuela

• Orphénica Lyra, Miguel de Fuenllana
  Miguel de Fuenllana
  Miguel de Fuenllana was a Spanish vihuelist and composer of the Renaissance.-Biography:Little is known of his life. It is assumed from his name that his roots lie in the municipality of Fuenllana, in the province of Ciudad Real, although he was born in Navalcarnero, Madrid...
  
  .
• Silva de Sirenas, Enríquez de Valderrábano
  Enríquez de Valderrábano
  Enríquez de Valderrábano was a Spanish vihuelist and composer. There is little biographical data on this composer of early music, but there is some from the prologue to his book of music, Libro de música de vihuela intitulado Silva de Sirenas, published in Valladolid, Spain in 1547...
  
  .
• Libro de música de vihuela, Diego Pisador
  Diego Pisador
  Diego Pisador was a Spanish vihuelist and composer of the Renaissance.-Life:Little is known of the details of Pisador's life, not even the exact dates of his birth and death. It is known that he was born in Salamanca around the years 1509 or 10. He was the oldest son of Alonso Pisador and Isabel...
  
  .