Classical
Prades
Mateo Flecha
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About Mateo Flecha
Hometown
Prades
Born
1481
Genre
Classical
A student of Joan Castello in Barcelona and a singer in Lerida Cathedral, Flecha became the master of the chapel in Lerida followed by service to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Luna, Duque del Infantando. Later Flecha was to serve for the Duke of Calabria and as master of the chapel at Arevalo to the two sisters of Philip II. Although other composers employed the term "ensalada" to some of their music, Flecha developed -- some would say invented -- this extended form of Spanish-text music. The songs were quite lengthy but Flecha, through the use of common street tunes and an unsurpassed liveliness, maintains the flow of the music without giving in to trite temptations. With a variety of music and an interweaving of textual data for a definitive enterprise and telos, Flecha's renditions of the ensalada brought the form to its apex. ~ Keith Johnson
