Jose Marin

José Marin was one of the most prolific composers of tonos humanos (profane songs in Romance languages) of the Spanish Baroque period. His works were disseminated all over the world and one of his complete manuscripts is called the Fitzwilliam Manuscript and is in Cambridge. The songs were traditionally accompanied by harp or guitar.

This disc from the Bogotá, Colombia-based ensemble Música Ficta jumps on the fast-moving bandwagon carrying Baroque music from Latin America. It is billed, with unnecessary specificity, as covering "Feast and Devotion in High Peru of the seventeenth century," but like other releases in this general repertoire it ranges widely, including music from other Latin American countries and from Spain itself, and covering music of several centuries. The subtitle is a bit misleading but not seriously annoying, for all this music traveled quite a bit in its time, and all the lands that are individual countries today were simply part of New Spain.

The seventeenth century was a very dark century for the peninsular kingdoms. Famine, epidemics, and all kinds of miseries seized upon a diminishing and very fragmented population. In spite of the continuous social economical and epistemological crisis and of the imposition of an ideology of domination, Spanish culture had flashes of brilliance. And music was a very important part of that culture, particularly vocal music. It was a vehicle of expression for restrained passions, a music that, at times, sang to disillusionment and deception of the senses, just like the tono that lends its title to this recording. The Tonos selected for this recording coincide with this period, in which theatre performances enjoyed a new boost.

The seventeenth century was a very dark century for the peninsular kingdoms. Famine, epidemics, and all kinds of miseries seized upon a diminishing and very fragmented population. In spite of the continuous social economical and epistemological crisis and of the imposition of an ideology of domination, Spanish culture had flashes of brilliance. And music was a very important part of that culture, particularly vocal music. It was a vehicle of expression for restrained passions, a music that, at times, sang to disillusionment and deception of the senses, just like the tono that lends its title to this recording. The Tonos selected for this recording coincide with this period, in which theatre performances enjoyed a new boost.