Música, devoción y esparcimiento en la capilla del Alcázar Real (siglo XVII): Los villancicos y tonos al Santísimo Sacramento para Cuarenta Horas

Abstract

Outside of its textual and musical interest, the villancico has been little studied within the social and ritual context in which it was cultivated. This article is centered on the villancicos which were sung during the siestas of the Forty Hours prayer, celebrated every month since 1639 in the chapel of the Alcázar Real in Madrid. On the basis of a complete reconstruction of this ceremony a review is made of different aspects related with the sound reception of the villancico, the roles it played and the relation it held with the vocal forces employed. For this purpose diverse contextual documentation was used: mainly the treatise on the Royal Chapel compiled circa 1668 and the one by Mateo Fraso dated 1685. Other sources were also consulted, with the aim of paving the way towards the understanding of the villancico as a sound event promoted by the court to increase devotion, while providing a sacred entertainment as well.