Antonio de Literes was a Spanish composer of zarzuela

Zarzuela

Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...

s, a type of performance that mixes spoken word, song and dance. Unlike Romantic opera, which is dominated by strings, there are guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

s, lute

Lute

Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....

s and harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

s in the orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

.

Literes played the bass viol

Viol

The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...

 for the royal choir in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 and was accounted the greatest composer at the Spanish court at the time. He moved to Capilla Real

Capilla real

with small text capilla real:* One of the musical Chapel Royals serving the kings of Spainwith capitalized text Capilla Real:* Royal Chapel of Granada, a mausoleum...

 in 1693 after the banishment of his predecessor Sebastián Durón

Sebastián Durón

-Life and career:Sebastian Duron was, with Antonio de Literes, the greatest Spanish composer of stage music of his time. He was born in Brihuega, Guadalajara, Spain, and was taught by his brother Diego Duron, also a composer...

.

Zarzuelas

His most famous work is Acis y Galatea (1708). The piece enjoyed frequent performances until 1774. After 200 years of neglect it was recorded in 2003, by Al Ayre Español

Al Ayre Español

Al Ayre Español is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specialized on early music founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo .The name of the ensemble was inspired by the title for a guitar Fugue of the Calanda composer, Gaspar Sanz...

, to an enthusiastic response.

The zarzuela Júpiter y Semele (1718) survives in manuscript form in Évora

Évora

Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....

 and its libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 was written by Jose de Canizares

José de Cañizares

José de Cañizares y Suárez was a Spanish playwright. Cavalry officer, public official, and author of around one hundred works, he was one of the most important dramatists of the early 18th century.-Life:...

 (who also wrote Acis y Galatea). It has been issued by Al Ayre Español on CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

.

Discography

• 1998 - Los Elementos. Ópera armónica al estilo italiano. Al Ayre Español
  Al Ayre Español
  Al Ayre Español is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specialized on early music founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo .The name of the ensemble was inspired by the title for a guitar Fugue of the Calanda composer, Gaspar Sanz...
  
  . Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472 77385 2
• 2001 - Acis y Galatea. Al Ayre Español
  Al Ayre Español
  Al Ayre Español is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specialized on early music founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo .The name of the ensemble was inspired by the title for a guitar Fugue of the Calanda composer, Gaspar Sanz...
  
  . Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472 77522 2
• 2003 - Júpiter y Semele o El estrago en la fineza. Al Ayre Español
  Al Ayre Español
  Al Ayre Español is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specialized on early music founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo .The name of the ensemble was inspired by the title for a guitar Fugue of the Calanda composer, Gaspar Sanz...
  
  . Harmonia Mundi Ibérica 987036.37 (2 CDs)