Devotional Music in the Iberian World, 1450-1800: The Villancico and Related Genres

From the fifteenth century to the beginning of the nineteenth century, devotional music played a fundamental role in the Iberian world. Songs in the vernacular, usually referred to by the generic name of 'villancico', but including forms as varied as madrigals, ensaladas, tonos, cantatas or even oratorios, were regularly performed at many religious feasts in major churches, royal and private chapels, convents and in monasteries. These compositions appear to have progressively fulfilled or s...