“Mirad nuestra Princesa…”. Una lectura política del villancico de Inocentes "Alerta, moradores de Belén" de Antonio Ugena en la Capilla Real de Carlos III

Abstract

In 1750 Ferdinand VI prohibited the performance of villancicos at the Royal Chapel, however, twenty years later the genre was revived during the feast of the Holy Innocents as one of the propaganda tools the enlightened monarchy used at the royal temple. Sources suggest that, in the course of the aforementioned celebration, villancicos by Antonio Ugena and Manuel Cavaza were performed every year between 1770 and 1777 before the royal family.

Of the five extant Holy Innocents villancicos by Antonio Ugena, Alerta, moradores de Belén, composed in 1774, is the only one that incorporates a panegyric to the Princess of Asturias, Maria Luisa of Parma, who was pregnant at the time, at the end. This element, together with the political significance of the text, the possibility that it was performed during High Mass and the extensive means used for its performance, suggests that this work is a paradigmtic example of stately sacred music produced at the Royal Chapel during the second half of the eighteenth century.