Santiago de Masarnau, precursor del movimiento coral en España

Abstract

In the nineteenth century a real “musical revolution” took place in Europe through the popularization of choral singing, which reached the furthest corners of the continent as an unprecedented movement. Choral singing at that time constituted a form of sociability, a means of entertainment, but mainly an effective vehicle for musical training and social progress. This movement arrived late at Spain, as the first choral societies were founded in Barcelona in the fifties. A few years earlier, however, Santiago de Masarnau had achieved two pioneering initiatives: the introduction of choral singing a capella in the Escuela Especial de Música created in 1843, and the establishment of musical teaching in 1846 at some charitable institutions in Madrid. In both cases he used German polyphonic choral coleections, adapted to Spanish together with Pedro de Madrazo, as a means to improve the quality of musical teaching and to find a possible way to reform the Spanish sacred music, thus becoming a forerunner of the regenerationist movement of the second half of the nineteenth century.