Los conciertos en Barcelona (1760-1808): el estreno de La Creación de Haydn en contexto

Abstract

To date there has been no systematic study of early concert life in Barcelona. Based on the information and perspective of the diary of the Baron of Maldà and the Diario de Barcelona, this article examines the organisation and evolution of the different concert formats in the city between 1760 and 1808. The vitality of musical siestas is considered from their aesthetic and social dimension, and from their shared identity with domestic spiritual concerts. Domestic academies by subscription, the point of contact between the latter and the nascent public concert, are presented as an area of cultural negotiation, key to the evolution of urban musical practices. Finally, this framework and unpublished data is used to analyse the successful but complex reception of Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation in Barcelona through a series of public concerts in 1804 and 1805.