Art flourished in Habsburg Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries, with its rich and diverse range of works. El Greco and Diego Velásques, the court painter of Philip IV, or Miguel de Cervantes, celebrated as a national poet, were already famous during their lifetime. Their time came to be known as the golden century of Spanish history which also brought forth a lot of wonderful music.

Les Escapades became aware of the Iberian musical treasures through a guest appearance at the Early Music Festival in Daroca in 2015. The blind organ player Pablo Bruna worked his whole life here. And why not perform his organ works in the Gamba Consort? This becomes obvious in that the mid-tone tuning of these organs on viola da gamba can be realized by means of split frets and the structure of the music can be made colourful and dynamic. In their excursion into the world of Spanish Music by Pablo Bruna, Diego Ortiz, Juan Cabanilles, Antonio de Cabezón and others Les Escapades followed a dramaturgy of versatility and variety.

The organ works of this period are by no means only sacred music. The music selected for this CD are virtuoso variations on song melodies, hits or “villancicos populares” or “tientos” which come up with unheard-of dissonances, the Falsas.

If an instrument could be assigned to the people of Spain, then surely it would be the guitar. And so Les Escapades join forces with the Catalan guitarist Maria Ferré who provides rhythmic verve in a colourful bouquet of Spanish music.