Francisco Valls facts for kids

Francisco Valls (born between 1665 and 1671 in Barcelona, died February 2, 1747) was an important Spanish composer and music director. He was known for his famous Mass, the Missa Scala Aretina, and a book he wrote about music theory called Mapa Armónico Práctico.

Life and Music

In 1696, Francisco Valls became the Mestre de capella (which means music director) at the main Barcelona Cathedral. He wrote a lot of music during his life. This included 10 Masses, 17 psalm settings, and 30 motets. He also created many other religious songs and 141 non-religious pieces. A lot of his original music papers are kept safe in the Biblioteca de Catalunya in Barcelona.

The Missa Scala Aretina

The Missa Scala Aretina is one of Valls' most famous works. It's a type of church music called a Mass. The name "Scala Aretina" comes from a special musical scale by Guido Aretinus that you can hear clearly in the Kyrie part of the Mass.

A Musical Controversy

This Mass caused a big argument in the music world between 1715 and 1720. It started when an organist named Joaquín Martínez de la Roca wrote a paper criticizing Valls' music. People took sides, some supporting Valls and others against him. Even the famous composer Alessandro Scarlatti shared his opinion, which was somewhat against Valls' ideas.

The main problem was in the Qui tollis section. At one point, a second soprano singer comes in with a very unusual chord. This chord created a strong, unexpected dissonance (a sound that clashes) with other notes playing at the same time. While some composers in other countries used such sounds, it was very new and surprising for Spanish music at that time.

Even though it caused a stir, the original music parts for the Missa Scala Aretina show a lot of wear and tear. This suggests that the Mass was performed many times, meaning it was quite popular despite the controversy.

How the Mass Sounds

The Missa Scala Aretina is written for three groups of singers (choirs). It also uses instruments like two oboes (which also play as violins), two trumpets, and a violone (like a cello). Each choir had its own instruments, like a harp or an organ.

This Mass is a typical Baroque piece, a style of music from the 1600s and 1700s. It sounds a bit like the Missa Salisburgensis by Biber. The Kyrie part is grand and uses strong trumpet sounds. Other parts, like the mysterious et incarnatus, have more emotional, clashing sounds. The Credo section is very colorful. For example, the word "descendit" (meaning "descends") is sung with a descending musical scale, and "coelis" (meaning "heavens") is sung with an ascending scale.

The Mapa Armónico Práctico

After he retired, Valls wrote a detailed book about music theory called Mapa Armónico Práctico. This book explains his ideas about how music should be put together and played. It includes many musical examples from his own works. You can find copies of this book and many of the musical pieces from it online for free.

Unusual Musical Techniques

The Latin choral works in the Mapa are very interesting. They include solo songs (arias), duets, and many canons and motets. Some of these pieces use many choirs singing at once (polychoral) or have full orchestral accompaniment. Many of Valls' works in this book use musical techniques that were very unusual for his time. For example, his motets Domine vim patior and O vos omnes use dissonance in a very striking way.

Valls also wrote some grand pieces with full orchestras. One example is the 10-part In te Domine speravi, which starts with a trumpet fanfare.

Focus on the Virgin Mary

Many of Valls' religious choral works, both in Latin and Spanish, often focus on the Virgin Mary. His best-known motet, Tota pulchra es, is about her. This was one of the few pieces, besides the Missa Scala Aretina, that was performed regularly for centuries after his death.

Other Works in the Mapa

The Mapa also contains Spanish religious songs called villancicos. Some of these are simpler, 4-part songs. Others are more complex, with 8 or 12 parts, like Quien será decid.

Valls was also interested in medieval thinkers. He set to music a hymn by Saint Thomas Aquinas and a prayer by Saint Augustine of Hippo. In the motet for Saint Augustine's prayer, Valls used changes in rhythm, time, and loudness to show the different feelings of the text.

The Mapa also includes two opera-style pieces in Italian. One of these is a sad song for a tenor singer, seemingly written for the character of Mark Antony in Egypt.

Instrumental Music

The instrumental pieces in the Mapa include fugues and works that use "contrary motion" (where melodies move in opposite directions). There's even a piece for strings that uses what Valls called the "enharmonic sharp." This was his unique way of slightly changing the pitch of certain notes.

Modern Performances and Editions

The Missa Scala Aretina was first performed in modern times in Barcelona by an English choir in 1978.

Many other compositions by Valls still exist in archives in Barcelona and other places. Most of these haven't been published in modern editions yet. However, some of his works are available from music publishers and public domain libraries online.

Selected Discography

• Valls: Missa Scala Aretina; dir. John Hoban, The London Oratory Choir, CRD, 3371 1994
• Valls: Missa Scala Aretina; Heinrich Biber: Requiem, dir. Gustav Leonhardt, Netherlands Bach Society Chorus, DHM.
• Tonos divinos A todo correr; Pues oy benignas las Luzes; Quando Antonio glorioso; Sagrado portento de amor; Que estruendo de clarines; Espiritu ardiente en llamas; La que en el jardin serafico. A Corte Musical, dir. Rogerio Goncalves. PAN 2004

See also

In Spanish: Francisco Valls (compositor) para niños