This recording fills a gap in our understanding of Sebastián Raval (c.1550–1604), a composer who has proved elusive to posthumous fame. Of noble origin, he was born on an unknown date in the region of Murcia (possibly in Cartagena). He fought in the Siege of Maastricht (1579) with the Spanish Tercios in Flanders, and, severely wounded, retired to Italy where he became a friar and worked as a musician.

Although musician–nobles were abundant in the 16th century, the presumption of a certain amateurism has marginalised them in the general historical narrative. Additionally, following a musical argument with Sicilian composer Achille Falcone, Raval was painted unfairly by partisan critics as arrogant and untalented, a view that persisted in Italian historiography, whereas in Spain he was largely ignored (most likely due to a career spent outside his home country).

Yet the canzonette on this album dispel any doubts about Raval’s talent. A light genre setting anonymous texts inspired by Petrarch in a madrigalian vein, canzonette – and particularly Raval’s – abound with themes of love. Although this genre was not inclined towards musical experimentation, there is a certain evolution from the classic canzonette of Orazio Vecchi (in the 1580s) to later examples by Luca Marenzio; Raval’s compositions, created in his pre-Roman period, fall at an intermediate point therein.

The choice of four voices with high tessituras and a baritone follows Vecchi’s style. Raval however uses a more imitative language, and in this aspect he is closer to Marenzio without reaching the latter’s declamatory style.

Not only is Raval’s book of ricercari the only one composed by a Spanish musician; its content reveals a rare contrapuntal ingenuity and a restless, innovative spirit that cannot go unnoticed. The volume reached us by sheer good fortune. Only one copy of each part-book was preserved in the archive of the cathedral of Valladolid. Thanks to this, today we can enjoy this rare music, not just for its artistry but also for its delicacy.