Enrique López-Cortón
Photo by Yoshimura Ramón
Next concerts
In the 2025/26 season, we will present performances of our programs Sonido en el Silencio and Ensaladas. More information will follow soon.
MEDIA
PROGRAMS
Sound in the Silence
The role of female monasteries in the creation and performance of a wide repertoire for women is still one of the least studied areas in the history of Spanish music. With the rise of mercantilism in the 16th century, the status of Spanish women worsened, as evidenced by, for instance, "La perfecta casada" by Fray Luis de León. Women were understood to have, in addition to domestic and reproductive tasks, an important additional responsibility: the deffence of their honour, which they could not maintain alone.
Therefore, for widowed or single women, the convent was the only alternative option. However, the truth is that paying the dowry required by the convent was not feasible for all families. As a result, there was an abnormally high representation of women from the upper and middle classes in women’s convents. Nevertheless, there was a requirement that could replace the payment of the dowry: musical knowledge.
The basic line-up of the ensemble for this program consists of four female singers, organ and harpsichord. Sackbuts and curtal may also be added. The program includes Gregorian Chant, polyphony and solo´s, by composers like Vaquedano, Galán, Beana and Morales, among others, and it has already been performed during the festival Espazos Sonoros (Santiago de Compostela, Spain 2023) and Via Musica (Emmeloord, The Netherlands 2024).
The Ensaladas by Mateo Flecha are lively Spanish "musical salads" from the early 16th century. This distinctly Spanish genre combines multiple languages (Spanish, Catalan, French, Latin, etc.) in a single work. Scenes from everyday life are blended with historical events, folk music, jokes, exclamations, and devout prayers to the Virgin Mary—hence the name ensalada.Originally composed for Christmas festivities, these pieces quickly transcended that context.
The Ensaladas were created as entertainment for courtiers and gained great fame at palace celebrations. You are in for a treat with these joyful and lighthearted Ensaladas, which sparkle from start to finish. As a counterbalance, our program also includes Cantigas de Santa Maria (13th century) and villancicos from the Cancionero de Palacio (15th century). We perform this program with four singers, baroque guitar, vihuela de arco, sackbut, curtal, harpsichord, and percussion.
Photo by Simon Cremer
The Lerma Codex is a Spanish manuscript copied in Spain at the end of the 16th century. It once belonged to the music library of the Duke of Lerma, valido (favorite) of Philip III. It was discovered in the 1950s by Maarten A. Vente, lecturer and curator at the Instituut voor Muziekwetenschap at the University of Utrecht. The codex contains Italian madrigals, French chansons, and instrumental dances. Some of the composers are virtually unknown, such as Jacopo Corfini or Giovan Primavera
For most of the dances, Codex Lerma is the only source, including some by Clemens non papa. The madrigal "Pon fren al gran dolor,"which sets a text by Petrarch, is also a unicum, and never performed before in modern times.
Codex Lerma "The Found Manuscript" was premiered in the Netherlands in 2014 with the support of the Utrecht University Library, the Instituto Cervantes of Utrecht, and the Spanish Embassy in The Hague. Since then, it hs been performed in numerous festivals, like Festival Internacional de Arte Sacro (Madrid, Spain), Festival de Música Antigua (Sevilla, Spain), Musica Antiqua Nova (Groningen, The Netherlands) and Musica Antigua da Camera (The Hague, The Netherlands)
ABOUT
Based in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Capella Sancta Maria is a professional vocal ensemble specialized in music of the Spanish Renaissance. Made up of singers of international reknown, Capella SanctaMaria has performed at international festivals such as Festival de Musica Antigua de Sevilla (Spain), Festival Internacional de Arte Sacro (Madrid, Spain), Festival Espazos Sonoros (Santiago deCompostela, Spain), Utrecht Early Music Festival (The Netherlands), Musica Antica daCamera (The Hague, The Netherlands) and Festival Via Musica (Flevoland, The Netherlands) among others. With a warm, round sound, they have been praised for their moving interpretations and their original programs.
Photo by Yoshimura Ramón
Enrique López-Cortón (La Coruña, Spain, 1969) has established a reputation in The Netherlands as a specialist in Renaissance and early baroque music. With Capella Sancta Maria he has focussed on the Spanish masters in general, and Cristobal de Morales in particular. He also conducts major choral and orchestral works, ranging from 18th-century classics like Bach's St. John Passion and Mozart's Requiem to more modern pieces such as Elgar's The Music Makers and Takemitsu's My Way of Life. After studying conducting in Barcelona under Manuel Cabero and Mireia Barrera, he moved to The Netherlands in 1999 to study choral conducting at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Jos Vermunt and Jos van Veldhoven, and later, orchestral conducting with Jurjen Hempel. He also studied singing with Xenia Meijer and Claron McFadden. In Tilburg, he was a student of Dr. Rebecca Stewart in her Early Polyphony and Gregorian Chant program. More recently, he has founded Reïna Lupa, en ensemble specialized on the Italian seicento.
CONTACT
For any enquiry or request please write us an email to:
e.lopezcorton [AT] gmail [DOT] com