The Guerra Manuscript is an important musical manuscript copied by the nobleman and scribe José Miguel de Guerra y Villegas for the
capilla real of
Charles II of Spain
Charles II (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg, which had ruled Spain since 1516, he died without an heir, leading to a European Great Power conflict over the succ ...
around 1680.
The manuscript, Ms 265 at the
Royal University of Santiago de Compostela, was only fully analysed, edited and published in 1998. It contains 100
tonos humanos
The tono humano (secular song) was one of the main genres of 17th Century Spanish and Portuguese music.
:The term ''tonadas'' is also used for ''tonos humanos'' in 17th Century musical literature but the 17th Century ''tonada'' is to be distinguis ...
for soprano and
continuo.
[ed. Ignacio Arellano ''Autos sacramentales completos de Calderón'' 2003 p91 "Recientemente se ha producido el descubrimiento de un tercer manuscrito que contiene fragmentos musicales para comedias, denominado «Manuscrito Guerra». En él se recogen cien tonos humanos para soprano y continuo,... "] Many of the songs exist in other sources, such as excerpts from
zarzuela
() is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...
s, and the composers can be identified. Composers include the senior theatre composer and master of the capilla real
Juan Hidalgo,
José Marín,
Cristóbal Galán,
Juan del Vado,
Matías Ruiz, and the then young harpist
Juan de Navas.
Selected recordings
* ''The Guerra Manuscript Volume 1'' - Isabel Monar (soprano) & Manuel Vilas (Spanish baroque harp). Naxos
* ''The Guerra Manuscript Volume 2'' - Juan Sancho (tenor) Ars Atlántica, dir. Manuel Vilas (Spanish baroque harp). Naxos
* ''The Guerra Manuscript Volume 3'' - Yetzabel Arias Fernández (soprano) Ars Atlántica, dir. Manuel Vilas (Spanish baroque harp). Naxos
References
{{Baroque music manuscript sources
Baroque music manuscript sources