José Melchor Baltasar Gaspar Nebra Blasco (January 6, 1702 – July 11, 1768) was a Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 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...

.

José de Nebra was born in Calatayud

Calatayud

Calatayud is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza in Aragón, Spain lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital, Zaragoza, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial...

 and was taught by his father, José Antonio Nebra Mezquita (1672–1748), organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 and master of choirboys at the Cathedral of Cuenca

Cuenca Cathedral

Cuenca Cathedral is a Gothic cathedral in the city of Cuenca in Cuenca Province in the Castile-La Mancha region of south-eastern central Spain. Exceptional expression of Gothic Anglo-Norman, begun in 1196....

 1711-1729. Two brothers were also musicians: Francisco Javier Nebra Blasco (1705–1741), organist of La Seo in Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

 till he moved to Cuenca

Cuenca, Spain

-History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria...

 in 1729, then succeeded by his brother Joaquín Ignacio Nebra Blasco (1709–1782) till his death. He died in Madrid.

More than 170 works by Nebra survive: masses, psalms, litanies, a Stabat Mater

Stabat Mater

Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...

, a Salve Regina

Salve Regina

The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...

, cantatas, villancicos, and around thirty keyboard works. But his significance is as father of Spanish opera

Spanish opera

Spanish opera is both the art of opera in Spain and opera in the Spanish language. Opera has existed in Spain since the mid 17th century.-Early history:...

 and the 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...

.

Some of Nebra's choral works and solo cantatas have been recorded on CD by the Spanish group 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...

.

Works

Sacred works

• Miserere
• Requiem for Queen Barbara of Braganza.

Operas

• Amor aumenta el valor (collective work, 3rd act only), 1728
• Venus y Adonis, 1729
• Más gloria es triunfar de sí. Adriano in Syria, 1737
• No todo indicio es verdad. Alexander in Asia, 1744
• Antes que zelos y amor, la piedad llama al valor. Achilles in Troy 1747

Zarzuelas

• Las proezas de Esplandián y el valor deshace encantos, 1729
• Amor, ventura y valor logran el triunfo mayor, 1739
• Viento es la dicha de amor, 1743
• Donde hay violencia no hay culpa, 1744
• Vendado amor es, no es ciego, 1744
• Cautelas contra cautelas y el rapto de Ganimedes, 1745
• La colonia de Diana, 1745
• Para obsequio a la deydad, nunca es culto la crueldad. Iphigenia en Tracia (Thrace), 1747
• No hay perjurio sin castigo, 1747

Selected Recordings

• 2001 - Miserere. 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.
• Sonata, op. 1 no. 4 for harpsichord, performed by Janine Johnson
• Opera - Amor aumenta el valor Los Musicos de Su Alteza, Alpha, 2010
• 2005 - La Cantada Española en América. 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 987064
• Arias de Zarzuelas. Maria Bayo, 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...
  
   dir. Eduardo López Banzo
  Eduardo López Banzo
  Eduardo López Banzo is a Spanish harpsichordist and conductor of baroque music.Banzo was born in Zaragoza Spain. He studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam....
  
  . Harmonia Mundi, 2006
• Cantatas. Esta Dulzura Amable. 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...
  
   dir. Eduardo López Banzo
  Eduardo López Banzo
  Eduardo López Banzo is a Spanish harpsichordist and conductor of baroque music.Banzo was born in Zaragoza Spain. He studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam....
  
  . Challenge Classics 2011
• Vespers - Vispera de Confesores. La Grande Chapelle. dir. Àngel Recasens. Lauda Musica 2006

External links

• Música Colonial Management Site Includes manuscripts of works by Nebra