Sebastián Durón
Encyclopedia
Life and career
Sebastian Duron was, with Antonio de LiteresAntonio de Literes
Antonio de Literes was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas, a type of performance that mixes spoken word, song and dance...
, the greatest Spanish composer of stage music of his time. He was born in Brihuega
Brihuega
Brihuega is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2007 census , the municipality has a population of 2,835 inhabitants....
, Guadalajara, Spain, and was taught by his brother Diego Duron, also a composer. Sebastian served as organist and choirmaster at various cathedrals (Seville
Seville Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See , better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville . It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world....
, Cuenca
Old Cathedral of Cuenca
The Old Cathedral of Cuenca or Iglesia del Sagrario in Cuenca, Ecuador, was the main place of Spanish worship during the time of Spanish colonization; it functions today as the Museum for Religious Art...
, El Burgo de Osma
Cathedral of Burgo de Osma
The Cathedral of Burgo de Osma is a Gothic building in El Burgo de Osma, central Spain, built on an area previously occupied by a Romanesque church. It is one of the best preserved medieval buildings in the country and considered one of the best examples of thirteenth-century gothic architecture...
, Plasencia
Plasencia
Plasencia is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it had a population of 41,447.Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's strategic location along the Silver Route, or Ruta de la Plata...
) until in 1691 he was appointed master of the Royal Chapel
Capilla Flamenca
Capilla Flamenca is a vocal and instrumental early music consort based in Leuven, Belgium. The group specialises in 14th to 16th Century music from Flanders and takes its name from the choir of the court chapel of Emperor Charles V...
of King Charles II
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
in Madrid. He remained in this position until 1706, when he was suspended because of expressing support for Archduke Charles of Austria
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
during the War of Spanish Succession, which ended with the victory of Bourbon King Philip V
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
. Duron was forced into exile in France, from where he returned briefly in 1714 to serve as a musician to the Dukes of Osuna. In 1715 he returned permanently to Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
, France as chaplain to the exiled queen Mariana of Neuburg, the widow of Charles II, to whom he officiated in her scandalous remarriage to the son of a barrel-maker. He died in 1716 of tuberculosis at Cambo-les-Bains, Aquitania, France.
Although Durón composed many sacred pieces, and these and his villancicos were taken to the New World, his main influence was in the zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
.
Father Benito Jerónimo Feijoo (1676–1764) criticised Durón, compared to Literes, for the worldliness of his compositions.
Stage works
- 1696 Salir el amor del mundo (libretto by José de Cañizares). Zarzuela in 2 acts.
- 1697 Muerte en amor es la ausencia (libretto by Antonio de Zamora).
- c.1698 Selva encantada de amor. Zarzuela in 2 acts.
- 1700 La guerra de los gigantes. 1 act.
- c.1699 Apolo y Dafne (libretto by José Benavides). Zarzuela in 3 acts (act 2 contains the music of Navas).
- 1710 El imposible mayor en amor, le vence amor (libretto by Francisco Bances Candamo and José de CañizaresJosé de CañizaresJosé de Cañizares y Suárez was a Spanish playwright. Cavalry officer, public official, and author of around one hundred works, he was one of the most important dramatists of the early 18th century.-Life:...
). Comedy in 2 acts. - 1711 22 January Veneno es de amor la envidia (libretto by Antonio de Zamora, possibly with the participation of José Cañizares). Zarzuela in 2 acts: Madrid.
- 1711 25 December Las nuevas armas de amor (libretto by José de Cañizares). Zarzuela in 2 acts: Madrid.
Selected discography
- Tonadas (Songs), Raquel Andueza. Naxos.
- selections on Barroco Español, Vol.2, Vol.3, by Al Ayre EspañolAl Ayre EspañolAl Ayre Español is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specialized on early music founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo .The name of the ensemble was inspired by the title for a guitar Fugue of the Calanda composer, Gaspar Sanz...
, cond. Eduardo Lopéz Banzo. DHM