Splendours of the Spanish Golden Age

At the end of the 15th century, Spain was one of the most influential powers in Europe, reinforced by Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Americas in 1492. This major date also marks the end of the Reconquista, the Catholics’ long revenge over the Muslims in Spain ending in Andalusia. The country was ready to spread its magnificence and dominance to all Europe, without forgetting all the cultural influences of the past. Charles V was the dominant figure of power of Spain and of the Habsburg family: Duke of Burgundy, he became King of Spains (then including Portugal, all the Low Countries and also the New Spain of America), Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem, he was also proclaimed Roman Emperor. This Golden Age would influence major development in the arts and end in incessant conflicts between European powers. 

Over two centuries, many Flemish composers lived in Spain for some of their life, some even died there. Charles V officially created the Capilla Flamenca in 1515 in the Royal Palace in Madrid, opposite the Spanish Chapel (the two would only merge in 1637). So, for more than a century, the Spanish sovereigns invited reputed and talented composers, singers and musicians from all over Flanders, to perform their French-Flemish style counterpoint. Two worlds met, confronted, influenced or hated each other, each with their ancestral musical roots, in Spain and in Flanders.

This program will confront almost two centuries long of exchange and the close artistic relationships created over the years between the two cultures: a Mediterranean local one and a foreign one from the North of Europe.