In the early 17th century a style emerged in Italy among 
    the features of which were a close connection between text and music and the 
    support of voices and instruments by a basso continuo. This style quickly 
    disseminated across Europe but Spain was one of the countries where it had 
    little influence. It was only in the latter decades of the century that Italian 
    influence made itself felt. At least, according to an often held view. However, 
    it needs some correction. The basso continuo practice made its appearance 
    quite soon and so did the emphasis on the emotional aspects of musical performance. 
    These features come to the fore in the genre of the 
tono humano, 
    a song for one or several solo voices with accompaniment.
    
    Especially in the second half of the 17th century this genre became very popular. 
    Among the composers of such pieces are José Marín and Juan Hidalgo, both represented 
    on the present disc. A large number of such songs are anonymous, and many 
    of them were collected in the so-called 
Manuscrito Guerra. This collection 
    is the subject of a series of discs by the Spanish ensemble Ars Antlantiqua 
    for Naxos; so far three discs have been released (vol. 1: 8.570135; vol. 2: 
    8.572876; vol. 3: 8.573312).
    
    It is interesting to note that some of the pieces on the present disc are 
    from sources outside Spain. The reason is that in the early decades of the 
    century Spanish culture in general and Spanish music in particular became 
    quite popular in France and Italy. That explains why Gabriel Bataille included 
    several pieces in the collections of songs which he published from 1609 to 
    1614. One of them is 
Ojos vuestros which was then included by Robert 
    Dowland in his 
Musicall Banquet of 1610. It is one of the better-known 
    songs, recorded also by Nigel Rogers as part of his disc devoted to Robert 
    Dowland's collection (EMI, 1977; reissued 1991). Part of the French 
    fascination with Spanish culture was due to the guitar, the 
chitarra espagnola. 
    Even Louis XIII was attracted by the instrument and may have been taught to 
    play it by the Spanish immigrant Luis de Briceño. This fascination for everything 
    Spanish - mingled with a kind of disdain - is documented on a disc by Le Poème 
    Harmonique (
review). 
    A late specimen of that is the inclusion of 
Sé que me muero in 
Le 
    bourgeois gentilhomme, the famous 
comédie-ballet by Jean-Baptiste 
    Lully, on a libretto by Molière.
    
    The Spanish guitar was also embraced in Italy. Here the Spanish rule of Naples 
    - until 1706 - was instrumental in the dissemination of Spanish music, including 
    
tonos humanos. Benedetto Sanseverino published a collection of songs 
    that featured 18 pieces on a Spanish text with a guitar accompaniment in 
alfabeto 
    notation. Raquel Andueza recorded so-called 
alfabeto songs on a disc 
    with Pierre Pitzl's ensemble Private Musicke (
review). 
    A token of the popularity of such songs is the fact that a collection which 
    was published by Giovanni Stefani was reprinted four times. The anonymous 
    
La ausença is taken from one of his editions.
    
    All the songs are strophic; some include a refrain. They are about love, and 
    mostly its various tribulations, sometimes driving the protagonists to a state 
    of madness as the title piece suggests: "I am insanity, that which only 
    instils pleasure and sweetness and happiness to the world." The emotional 
    features of this kind of song are clearly inspired by the Italian 
seconda 
    prattica but there is also a difference. Spanish composers avoided harmonic 
    experiments focusing instead on the rhythmic expression of the text. That 
    is emphasized through the use of plucked instruments for the accompaniment.
    
    Raquel Andueza is like a fish in water in this repertoire. From the word go 
    you feel that this is her core business. It helps that she is a native Spanish 
    speaker. Performances by non-Spanish singers often suffer from a style of 
    singing which they think is Spanish but is probably a product of fantasy. 
    That goes especially for recordings from the 1970s and 1980s. Now that many 
    Spanish artists take care of their own musical heritage we get a better impression 
    of what is Spanish in early music. The fascination of this kind of music is 
    not confined to the 17th century. In our time it has many admirers among music-lovers. 
    They shouldn't miss this disc which delivers a highly compelling survey 
    of the repertoire of Spanish 
tonos humanos.
    
    
Johan van Veen
    www.musica-dei-donum.org
    twitter.com/johanvanveen