Los villancicos a Santiago de Fray José de Vaquedano (1642-1711)

Abstract

This article studies the villancicos which the Navarran composer José de Vaquedano (1642-1711), chapelmaster at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, dedicated to the Apostle Saint James and locates this repertoire within the  historical and liturgical context it was perfomed. The work includes a critical review of the publications about Vaquedano, a description of the ceremony of the Offering to the Apostle held in the Cathedral of Santiago (where the villancicos being studied were heard), an analysis of the musical characteristics and literary themes which appear in these works, and a specific study of the villancico Al Apóstol más excelso (1681), of which several examples are also given.