Sebastian Raval
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of vocal and instrumental music. Born in Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
, he served as a soldier of the Army of Flanders
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. He joined the order of St. John of Jerusalem after being wounded in the siege of Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
.
He moved to Italy where he served as a musician in the court of Francesco Maria II della Rovere
Francesco Maria II della Rovere
Francesco Maria II della Rovere was the last Duke of Urbino.- Biography :Born at Pesaro, Francesco Maria was the son of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Count of Montefeltro and Vittoria Farnese, Princess of Parma...
in Urbino
Urbino
Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
, of the viceroy of Sicily, Bernardino de Cárdenas, and of the cardinals Peretti and Colonna in Rome.
In Rome, he declared himself the "best musician in the world", on account of which he was challenged to a musical contest first by Giovanni Maria Nanino
Giovanni Maria Nanino
Giovanni Maria Nanino was an Italian composer and teacher of the late Renaissance. He was a member of the Roman School of composers, and was the most influential music teacher in Rome in the late 16th century...
and shortly afterwards by Francesco Soriano
Francesco Soriano
Francesco Soriano was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most skilled members of the Roman School in the first generation after Palestrina....
. Raval was defeated in both cases.
On 28 April 1595 he succeeded Luis Ruiz as the last Spanish maestro di cappella of the viceroyal chapel of the Spanish viceroys in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
.
In Sicily, he again challenged a musician, Achille Falcone
Achille Falcone
Achille Falcone was an Italian composer.Born in Cosenza, the son of Antonio Falcone, he was maestro di capella at Caltagirone, Sicily, and known for his madrigals. He was challenged to a musical duel by Sebastian Raval, maestro di capella at Palermo, which Achille won, but the decision was later...
, to a contest; it was first decided in Falcone's favour but, after some appeals, in Raval's. After Falcone's death in 1600, Antonio Falcone, father of Achille, published all the process of this musical duel in his "relazione del successo" and took Raval and Falcone's pieces object of this competition to print including several, canons, madrigals, motets and ricercari. This edition of both Falcone and Raval's pieces is available nowadays in modern edition.
Sebastián Raval died in Palermo in 1604.
In 2004, the city of Cartagena, his natal city, paid homage with a concert conducted by the violist Pere Ros to this composer on the occasion of the 400 years of his death.
Works
Raval composed religious poliphonic music, madrigals and instrumental ricercari.
Raval's oeuvre has not yet studied in depth. Only a few pieces have been published in modern times; the rest await the musicological research they deserve.
Sacred:
- Motectorum liber primus. 5 vv (Rome 1593)
- Lamentationes Hieremiae Prophetae. 5 vv Rome 1594
- Motecta Selecta organo Accomodata. 3-8 vv. org. (Palermo 1600)
Secular:
- Il Primo Libro de Madrigali. 5vv (Venice 1593)
- Il Pimo Libro di Canzonette. 4 VV (Venice 1593)
- Madrigali 3, 5, 8 vv (Rome 1595)
- Il Primo Libro di Ricercari (Palermo 1596)
- 2 Madrigals in "Infidi Lumi" (Palermo 1603) (lost)
Editions
- "Achile Falcone-Madrigali, Mottetti e Ricercari" (Includes pieces of Raval). Leo S. Olschki Editore. (Firenze, 2000)
- "Sebastián Raval. 6 Canones (IL Primo Libro di Ricercari. Palermo 1596)" Sociedad Española de Musicología, Madrid 1985.
- "Sebastián Raval. Il Primo Libro di Ricercari a Quatro Voci Cantabili, per liuti, cimbali et viole d'arco. Palermo, 1596." Edited by Andrés Cea Galán. Patrimonio Musical Español, Fundación Caja Madrid (Madrid, 2008).
- "Three ensemble ricercars in four parts from Il primo libro de canzonette, 1593" edited by Milton Swenson.Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions, 1981.