The Reception of the Galant Style in Eighteenth-Century Spanish Toccata: Corelli as a Model

1. Introduction

The years 1720 to 1780 meant the flowering of the galant style in music. Arising in Naples in the 1720s, it spread to the main cities of Europe during a period of about sixty years. Neapolitan composers such as Leonardo Vinci, Domenico Natale Sarro, Leonardo Leo, and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi were attracted by the new «directness and simple elegance that could not be achieved in the older style». ¹ David Schulenberg, Music of the Baroque (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 308. Following the recent study of Daniel Heartz,² Daniel Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720-1780 (New York - London: W. W. Norton, 2003), 101. who was the first scholar to recognize the role of Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) in developing and disseminating this new style throughout Europe, this paper aims to examine his influence on the emergence of galant traits in the Spanish toccata for organ during the first half of the eighteenth century. The toccata, as a typical genre of the stylus phantasticus,³ According to the theorist Athanasius Kircher «Phantasticus stylus aptus instrumentis, est liberrima, & solutissima componendi methodus, nullis nec verbis, nec subiecto harmonico adstrictus ad ostentantum ingenium…» (The phantasticus style, suited to instruments, is the freest and most unrestrained method of composition, bound by neither words nor harmonic subject, intended to display the composer’s ingenuity), in Athanasius Kircher, Musurgia Universalis sive ars magna consoni et dissoni in libros digesta (Roma: Ex typographia Haeredum Francisci Corbelletti, 1650), vol. 1, book 7, 585. All traslations are by the author, unless otherwise stated. had scarcely been developed in Spain as late as in the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it emerged from the framework of the traditional tiento.⁴ In eighteenth-century Spain, the tiento retains its character as a piece in an imitative polyphonic style, but incorporates stylistic elements of the toccata (passages-work and virtuosic figurations) and the canzona (subjects based on repeated notes and iambic rhythms). Its sectional and variational form also reflects the influence of the archaic canzona. On this topic see Águeda Pedrero-Encabo, «El cambio estilístico de la música para teclado en España a través del manuscrito M 1012: tiento, tocata, sonata», Anuario Musical 51 (1996): 136-138. Only a handful of Spanish organ toccatas have survived in the extant repertoire. Particularly noteworthy are the six by Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), which exhibit a fanfare-like character and incorporate elements of the concertante Baroque idiom.⁵ They preserve at the Biblioteca de Catalunya (E-Bbc M 386, M 387 and M 1328) and Felanitx Fundació Cosme Bauzà (Ms 173). See the references in Miguel Bernal Ripoll, «Procedimientos constructivos en la música de órgano de Joan Cabanilles» (PhD thesis, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2015), 614-615. See an analysis of them in Águeda Pedrero-Encabo, «Joan Cabanilles: rasgos estilísticos e innovaciones en su obra de teclado», Cuadernos de Arte de la Universidad de Granada 26 (1995): 97-112; and Murray C. Bradshaw, «Juan Cabanilles: The Tocatas and Tientos», The Musical Quarterly, 59, no. 2 (1983): 285-301. The three toccatas by Pablo Nassarre (ca. 1650 - ca. 1730) show a more transparent three-voice polyphonic texture, reminiscent of the tiento yet lighter in character, combined with the sectional structure typical of the early canzona.⁶ Another brief toccatas appear in three of the four volumes of Antonio Martin i Coll (see Louis Jambou, «Transmisión, evolución y transformaciones musicales en Martín i Call. De Cabezón y Lully a Martín i Coll», Nasarre 17, no. 1-2 (2001): 305-330; and Maurice Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias in Spain during the 17 ^th and early 18 ^th centuries, vol. 1 (New York, Pendragon Press, 1992). Some of them are transcriptions of Lully’s music (Tocata Ytaliana from E-Mn M/1357; two Tocatas alegres para violín y órgano (E-Mn M/1360). Other are copies o adaptations of Corelli’s works, such as the Tocatas alegres de Corelli (E-Mn M/1360). The toccatas in Francisco de Tejada`s Libro de música para clavicimbalo of 1721 (E-Mn M/185) are really very simple and short pieces related to the world of dance or are adaptations or copies of instrumental works, a few also by Corelli. Other brief toccatas are also found, attributed to Italian composers such as Francesco Foggia (E-Mn 387). For a complete list of these toccatas preserved to date, see «Preliminary Study», in Vicent Rodríguez, Obres per a orgue, ed. Águeda Pedrero-Encabo (Barcelona: Tritó, 2009), 68-69; and Bernal Ripoll, «Procedimientos constructivos», 32-33. Finally, the only toccata surviving by José Elías (ca. 1678 - ca. 1755) embodies the virtuosic features associated with this Baroque genre.⁷ See a recent overview in Miguel Ángel Marín, «Música para tecla: Sarlattiy sus contemporáneos», in La música en el siglo XVIII, ed. José Máximo Leza (Madrid: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2014), 4:275, who includes the example of the unpublished toccata by Elías (Tocata de contras 5º tono de mi maestro Joseph Elías). This work serves as a paradigm of the virtuosistic baroque style of the genre (E-Bn M/812, fol. 169r, https://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=0000106083&page=1)%3c).

It is also important to note that in Spain, the terms toccata and sonata were used interchangeably. Therefore, works titled as toccatas in sources from the mid-eighteenth century onward were, in fact, sonatas. ⁸ This is the case with Corelli’s music preserved in the sources cited above, where the term tocata is used as a substitute for sonata. The same applies to the sonatas titled tocata by José Elías (E-MO 2999), Francisco Vila (E-Bbc M 751), and even some Spanish copies of sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (US-NYpm Cary 703). The 12 sonatas for organ by Elías are published by Joseph Elías, Obres per a orgue (pieces y tocates), ed. Pedrero-Encabo (Barcelona: Tritó, 2008). Within this framework, two manuscript books originating from the city of Valencia (E-Bbc M 1011 and E-Bbc M 1012) merit particular attention. They offer the most extensive and coherent collection of preserved toccatas in Spain, where some pieces stand out for showing key features of the new galant style.

The importance of Corelli in spreading the new galant compositional principles was already recognized in the eighteenth century. The French theorist and composer Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) regarded Corelli as the first composer to incorporate one of the defining features of the emerging galant aesthetic: the simplification of harmonic complexity in favor of lighter textures that support short-breathed melodies. Several other characteristics of the galant style can also be identified in Corelli’s music. Among the most notable are the simplification of the melodic line, a slower harmonic rhythm, and the replacement of the harmonic and textural intricacies characteristic of the late Baroque style with simpler harmonies and more homophonic textures —often employing devices such as parallel thirds or sixths between two voices—, or passages in unison; and an increasing use of symmetrical and balanced melodic phrases. The accompanying bass, generally characterized by a simpler melodic contour, is at times highlighted through the use of repeated-note patterns. ⁹ In Corelli’s music more broadly, one still perceives the late Baroque tendency toward a continuous, almost mechanical rhythm, driven by a steady andante bass pulse and the frequent use of sequential progressions. At the same time, there is a gradual departure from Fortspinnung through the increasing reliance on articulating cadences, a hallmark of the early phase of the galant style, according to William S. Newmann, The Sonata in the Classic Era (New York: W. W. Norton, 1972), 120. There is also an increasing use of melodic ornaments, such as trills and appoggiaturas, along with a growing preference for rhythmic patterns and lively figures, including triplets and dotted rhythms in the melodic lines. Additionally, Corelli demonstrates a tendency to employ ternary meters, —typical of playful dance forms—, in order to evoke the elegant and refined spirit of this new courtly and ‘free’ style.¹⁰ These musical characteristics that define the galant style have been drawn from Robert Marshall, The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach (New York: Schirmer Reference, 1990), 22-34; 41- 42; and Frederik Aquilina, Benigno Zerafa (1726-1804) and the Neapolitan Galant Style (New York: Boydell Press, 2016), 271. As is well known, the term free style was used by theorists of the time as a synonym for the galant style, in contrast to the strict and tied (‘atado’).¹¹ See Leonard Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form and Style (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980), 23.

The piece that clearly illustrates the traits and social associations of the new galant style is the Minuet. For Daniel Heartz, «the term Minuet approaches synonymy with the term galant». ¹² Heartz, Music in European Capitals, 23. Among all the dances, the minuet captures the most emblematic essence of the galant style, owing to its noble and charming character, and its affect of «pleasing propriety, but joined with simplicity».¹³ On the minuet as a social dance, see Wye Jamison Allanbrook, Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart. Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni (Chicago - London: University of Chicago Press, 1983), 33-37. During the eighteenth century, this dance was the «epitome of choreographic elegance and refinement».

On the other hand, Robert Gjerdingen’s study Music in the Galant Style (2007) has opened new avenues for the analysis of the schemata as compositional procedures in works from the galant period (1720-1780). ¹⁴ Robert O. Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). He was the first to systematize and define, the melodic-harmonic schemata employed by eighteenth-century musicians in the creation of their works.¹⁵ Schemas are often given names, sometimes based on descriptions from earlier theorists (the Monte, Fonte, and Ponte, described by Joseph Riepel, for example) or, at other times, named after theorists themselves (as the Meyer, afer Leonard Meyer or Heartz after Daniel Heartz). Through the teachings in the Neapolitan conservatories, this compositional practice spread throughout Europe, thereby disseminating the galant style and shaping what came to be known as the common practice period. According to Gjerdingen, «a hallmark of the galant style is a particular repertory of stock musical phrases employed in conventional sequences».¹⁶ Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 6. The schemas serve as a «skeleton» which composers of the eighteenth century and beyond used to learn and improvise, as a basis for creating new music. A schema is a prototype, that is, an idealized version of a common pattern, a conventional musical formula that functions as a melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic/metric framework within compositions.¹⁷ This paper adopts Gjerdingen’s indicative system, using black circles around the scale degree numbers in the melody and white circles for those in the bass. The identification of the schema is based on the two outer voices —melody and bass— therefore only the notes from these parts are included. For a complete account of the structure of each schema, one may refer to the work of Gjerdingen, as well as subsequent studies that have analyzed and identified additional schemata, such as those by Byros (2012, 2013, 2017); Rice (2014, 2015, 2017, 2022), IJzerman (2018), Salamon (2019), Mitchell (2020) and Demeyere (2022). However, most schemata are identified primarily by the scale degrees of their two outer voices —the melody and the bass— to which, in some cases, a third voice, functioning as a pedal tone, is also to be considered.¹⁸ A summary of the Galant schemas can be consulted in: https://openmusictheory.github.io/schemataOpensAndCloses.

This study examines the reception of the galant style in a representative corpus of Spanish organ toccatas, focusing on stylistic connections with the works of Corelli and, more significantly, on the adoption of the compositional system based on galant schemata.

2. The reception of Corelli`s sonata model

The diffusion of Corelli’s works in Spain has been confirmed since the beginning of the eighteenth century, mainly from documentary evidence of the existence of copies or transcriptions of his works. ¹⁹ See the studies by Craig H. Russell, «An Investigation into Arcangelo Corelli’s Influence on Eighteenth-Century Spain», Current Musicology 34 (1982): 42-52; Craig H. Russell, «El arte de recomposición en la música española para la guitarra barroca», Revista de Musicología 5, no. 1 (1982): 5-23; and Miguel Ángel Marín, «La recepción de Corelli en Madrid (ca. 1680 - ca. 1810)», in Arcangelo Corelli fra mito e realtà storica: nuove prospettive d’indagine musicologica e interdisciplinare nel 350 anniversario della nascita eds. Gregory Barnett, Antonella D’Ovidio and Stefano La Via (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2007), 573-637. For an overview, see Marín, «A la sombra de Corelli», 293-97. The reception of Italian violin sonatas in Madrid was referred to by Gaspar Sanz in his treatise from 1674,²⁰ «[…] para tañer las sonatas cromaticas de Biolines que vienen de Italia […]» (to perform the chromatic violin sonatas coming from Italy), in Gaspar Sanz, «Prólogo al deseoso de tañer», in Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española (Zaragoza: Herederos de Diego Dormer, 1674), fol. 3v. but this is an early date for works by Corelli himself, considering that the first edition of his Opus 1 dates from 1681. Some documentary information has brought to light the performance of music for violins in the secular framework of Academies in Valencia in 1698, but these works are not attributable to Corelli.²¹ Andrea Bombi, «Pedagogy and Politics: Music and the Arts in the Valencian Academy (1690-1705)», Early Music 36, no. 4 (2008): 567-569, 572. The dissemination of Italian toccatas for violin at the end of the seventeenth century in Spain has been already demonstrated. It can be cited for its relationship with the organists of Valencia: the toccatas by the Roman composer Francesco Foggia (1604-1688), preserved in an organ manuscript (E-Bbc M 387) with Cabanilles’s works copied in 1694-1697. See Nuno Mendes, «Obres per a violí en un llibre d’orgue del segle XVII: el manuscrit 387 de la Biblioteca de Catalunya», Revista Catalana de Musicología 6 (2013): 47-64. As an example of the dissemination of Corelli’s works in a peripheral city, see the study by Miguel Ángel Marín, ed., Antología musical de la Catedral de Jaca en el siglo XVIII. Edición crítica y estudio (Huesca: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses - Diputación de Huesca, 2002). The first explicit reference to the violin performance of Corelli’s works in Valencia is very late, dating from 1765.²² It refers to a Folía by Corelli performed with two violins and dancing, as part of the activities of a Jesuit institution, the Seminario de nobles, in this city. See Andrea Bombi, «Águilas canoras: los jesuitas valencianos y la música (1579-1767)», Il Saggiatore musicale 22, no. 2 (2015): 183. And despite the outstanding diffusion that Corelli’s works had through manuscript copies or arrangements for other instruments (such as keyboard or guitar) in some parts of Spain, the stylistic influence that his work may have had directly on Spanish composers has not yet been assessed.²³ As noted by Miguel Ángel Marín: «aún está por determinar la influencia concreta que [la obra de Corelli] pudo haber ejercido en los compositores activos en España» (the specific influence of [Corelli’s work] may have had on composers active in Spain remains to be determined), in Marín, «A la sombra de Corelli», 291-303. Of particular note in this regard is the article by Ana Lombardía: Ana Lombardía, «Corelli as a Model? Composing Violin Sonatas in Mid-18th-Century Madrid», in Studi sulla musica dell’età barocca, ed. Giorgio Monari (Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2016), 17-69. Nevertheless, in her conclusions, she circumscribes Corelli’s influence on mid-eighteenth-century Spanish violin music solely to the incorporation of certain cadential formulae.

As is already known, the organist Vicente Rodríguez Monllor demonstrates his own reception of Corelli’s music through his arrangement of the Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 6, No. 1, which appears in his Tocata a la ytaliana con clarines (for organ reeds). ²⁴ Rodríguez, Obres per a orgue, ed. Pedrero-Encabo, 55-79. This toccata, although unfortunately unfinished,²⁵ Only 13 measures of the Corelli’s Largo have been copied out, and the verso of the last leaf is blank, which tends to confirm that the copying was interrupted. is preserved in an organ book housed at the Biblioteca de Catalunya (E-Bbc M 1011), which includes compositions by various Valencian organists.²⁶ E-Bbc M 1011 is a untitled keyboard manuscript shelf-marked Musica per a orgue, containing over 330 pieces by various composers, such as Cabanilles. It is digitized at: https://mdc.csuc.cat/digital/collection/partiturBC/id/20573/rec/23. Its approximate date can be placed around 1727, as one of the works, an unfinished Pange lingua, is dated that year (fol. 106r). The copy includes a later signature by Ramón Ortiz and appears to have been employed for study purposes, as demonstrated by the early autograph annotation on the first page: «Si este libro se perdiera como suele aconteser suplico a quien se lo halle si me lo quiere boluer y si no sabe mi nombre aqui baxo lo pondre Bartholome Pont y Uidal de la Villa de Albayda» (If this book were to be lost, as often happens, I beg whoever may find it to return it to me if they so wish; and if my name is unknown to them, I shall write it below: Bartholome Pont y Uidal, from the town of Albayda). He was a disciple of Antonio Tormo (? ca. 1759), the composer of two works included in the manuscript. An inventory is given in Higinio Anglés, «Fuentes», in Iohannis Cabanilles: Opera omnia (Barcelona: Biblioteca de Cataluña, 1927), II, LIV-LVI. Its first owner was Bartolomé Pont y Vidal. A physical description of the source and its provenance are found in Bernal, «Procedimientos constructivos», 93-94. The same volume also contains transcriptions of three sonatas from Corelli’s Op. 5 (Sonate a violino e violone o cimbalo, Rome, 1700): sonatas 8 and 10 plus the first three movements of sonata 2 (in folios 82r-89r).²⁷ However, the copy is incomplete, and some portions of the bass staff are blank. For a summary of the transcriptions and arrangements of pieces by Corelli copied in Spanish sources see Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias, 329-331; and Patricia González, «“Para clavicímbalo”. Acercamiento al repertorio de los clavecinistas españoles hacia 1700 a través de una selección de manuscritos de teclado conservados en la Biblioteca Nacional de España y la Biblioteca de Catalunya» (master’s thesis, Esmuc - Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 2011), 47-48. Therefore, our knowledge of Corelli’s reception in Valencia is expanded to the field of organ music, probably in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Together, this codex and the Valencian manuscript E-Bbc M 1012,²⁸ E-Bbc M 1012 is a keyboard manuscript of 169 pages from the beginning of the eighteenth century. It bears a blurry title cover, of which only the word «Valencia» can be read. It also bears a signature by Ramón Ortiz Pbro organista del Patriarca, in a clear reference to the Real Colegio de Corpus Christi of Valencia, known as the Patriarca. For a description of this manuscript, see Pedrero-Encabo, «El cambio estilístico de la música para teclado». also held at the Biblioteca de Catalunya, constitute the most important organ sources from the period, offering valuable insight into the reception of Corelli’s music. In light of the scarcity of extant Spanish organ toccatas, their study may serve as a paradigmatic analytical model. In particular, the toccatas preserved in these two manuscripts are unique sources for analyzing the features of this genre and especially for detecting possible connections with the galant style coming from Italy, and specifically conveyed through Corelli’s works, as will be demonstrated.

Particularly outstanding are the toccatas by Vicente Rodríguez Monllor (1690-1760). ²⁹ There is a critical edition in Rodríguez, Obres per a orgue, ed. Pedrero-Encabo, (Barcelona: Tritó, 2009). No other copies of his organ works have been located so far. Appointed organist of the Cathedral of Valencia in 1713, following the tenure of Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), he came into contact with his predecessor’s music and, consequently, with the compositional techniques characteristic of the Iberian organ tradition. Starting from this musical environment, Rodríguez initiated the renewal of the organ toccata, at both formal and stylistic levels.³⁰ Vicente Rodríguez Monllor is well known to the scholarly community as the composer of a collection of sonatas for harpsichord. See the edition of his sonatas by Vicente Rodríguez, Thirty Toccatas and a Pastorela, ed. Almonte Howell, (Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 1986); the study of Águeda Pedrero-Encabo, La sonata para teclado. Su configuración en España (Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid, 1997). He has been associated with other contemporaneous composers in the field, such as Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), Sebastián Albero (1722-1756), and José de Nebra (1702-1768). Vicente Rodríguez and the organist at Descalzas Reales, Joseph Elías (1678 ca. 1755) were the most successful innovators in the new keyboard sonata genre in Spain. See Águeda Pedrero-Encabo, «Some Unpublished Works by José Elías», in Spain During the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 214-221. A modern edition is published by Pedrero-Encabo: Elías, Obres per a orgue, (Barcelona: Tritó, 2008). A total of six toccatas by him are preserved in these two sources: numbers 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 14, as listed in Table 1.

Alongside these, two additional toccatas stand out, transmitted anonymously but undoubtedly the work of a Spanish composer: the Tocata de mano derecha de 8º tono ad libitum (see Table I, No. 12) and the Tocata de ecos y contraecos (No. 13). ³¹ All them are preserved in the two Valencian manuscripts cited above, which date from the first half of the century. There is a date of reference only in the E-Bbc M 1011 manuscript: the year of 1727 for a Pange lingua that is unfinished (it has only 4 measures) on fol. 106r, and on its verso the tocata ala ytaliana starts. Thus, it seems likely that the copy of the toccatas by Rodríguez was made after this year. On the other hand, the sonatas of Corelli could had been copied before 1727, because they are copied on fols. 82r-89r. In E-Bbc M 1012 the most helpful reference for the composition date is the presence of a Sonata for harpsichord by Pedro Rabasa, a chapel master active in the Cathedral until 1724. Thus, it is very likely that the sonata was composed before he left Valencia that year and the rest of works also come from a similar period. In fact, a toccata from M 1012 is also in M 1011 (see Table 1). M 1012 also bears the date of 1741 on the title of a Salmodia by Joseph Grau copied at the end of the volume (fol. 164r). Given their stylistic affinities, a possible attribution to Rodríguez may be proposed, although this must remain speculative.³² Both toccatas were copied by the same scribe and appear alongside other works attributed to Rodríguez; however, it is unusual that their titles make no mention of the composer, unlike the other entries in the manuscript.

On the whole, these eight toccatas display the structural model derived from the tiento, which in turn drew from the early Italian canzona. This is evident in features such as the division into two or three main sections, the use of contrasting tempi, and thematic connections between the opening sections (or movements) through variation, particularly between the outer sections. Therefore, Rodríguez continues to explore this hallmark of Cabanilles’s style: the integration of imitative polyphony with virtuosic toccata elements and echoes of the archaic canzona, as found in several of his tientos. This persistence of traits characteristic of the traditional style derived from the tiento is more evident in the three toccatas by Pablo Nasarre (1650-1730) and the one by Joaquín Martínez [de la Roca] (1676-1747): Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 2 in Table 1. In contrast, the toccatas by Antonio Tormo (?1759) —nos. 5 and 6 in Table 1— follow the Baroque toccata model, consisting of a single, fanfare-like movement. They are similar in style to Cabanilles’s Toccatas 3 and 4 and stand in marked contrast to the other toccatas that will be analyzed here. ³³ According to the numbering in the Anglés edition (Iohannis Cabanilles, vol. 2) The structural layout of these toccatas is presented in Table 1.³⁴ The Partido has been included due to its stylistic and formal traits, which are consistent with those of the toccatas. Its title may have omitted the terms Toccata de Registro Partido (divided stops), as observed in Elías’s sonatas (E-MO 2999), which are explicitly titled Tocata Partido.

Among these toccatas, numbers 9 and 12, as listed in Table 1, are particularly noteworthy. They reflect a hybrid approach, merging traditional formal procedures with the more modern structure of the late Baroque trio sonata —a paradigm perfected and widely disseminated across Europe by Corelli. This usual model in four movements is apparent in both the Tocata para clarines de batalla con un pedazo de timbales (No. 9) and the Tocata de mano derecha de 8º tono ad libitu[m] (No. 12). The Tocata para clarines de Batalla, has four movements in the usual alternating slow and fast (S-F-S-F), the first movement being a Grave followed by a Fuga. This contrasting pairing of a slow movement followed by a fast one (Allegro or Vivace) appears in some of the church trio sonatas from Corelli’s Op. 1 and 3, where the second movements often take the form of a fugue, even if not explicitly labeled as such. ³⁵ These alternations of Grave and fast movement can be found in nine of the sonatas from Op. 1 and eight from Op. 3. A Grave appears as well as first movement in three of the sonate da camera of Op. 4 and in three more violin sonatas from the first part of Op. 5. The character of the first two movements of the Toccata de Batalla aligns with that of the typical church sonata, as described by Brossard in 1701: «Les Sonates da Chiesa, c’est à dire, propres pour l’Eglise, qui commencent ordinairement par un mouvement grave & majestueux, proportionné à la dignité & sainteté du lieu; ensuite duquel on prend quelque Fugue gaye & animée, &c.».³⁶ Sébastien de Brossard, Dictionaire de musique (Paris: Ballard, 1703), s. v. «suonata»: «The Sonate da Chiesa, that is to say, suitable for the Church, usually begin with a solemn and majestic movement, appropriate to the dignity and sanctity of the place; after which follows a lively and animated fugue».

Thus, these tocatas adopt the multi-movement form probably inspired by the Corellian model, endowing the genre with a renewed character. ³⁷ Although the Sonata da Chiesa model is characteristic of the Late-Baroque style, it represents a modernization in relation to the Early-Baroque canzona model as applied to the toccata-tiento. Nevertheless, a blend with the archaic structure derived from the traditional style is maintained in these works. For instance, the first movement of the Tocata para clarines de batalla by Rodríguez is divided into two sections, Grave (solemn) and Ayroso (in tempo). The technique of a rhythmic variation of the theme that connects all the sections is especially evident between the first two, Grave and Ayroso, and also in the third, entitled Con ayre; but less clear in relation to the Fuga, as Example 1 shows. Nonetheless, the contrasting nature of each section remains clearly discernible.

As can be seen, tempo indications do confirm the survival of Spanish language (Ayroso, Con ayre) versus modern Italian (Allegro). Last, the melodic and rhythmic profiles of the toccatas’ themes are similar to those of the tientos (fugue-toccatas) and batallas (battles) of the Iberian organ tradition. As a result, the battle character of this toccata differs completely from that associated with the canonic church sonata. ³⁸ For a semiotic reading of this Toccata de batalla, based on topic theory, see Águeda Pedrero-Encabo, «Tocata de batalla: un análisis semiótico a través de los tópicos musicales», in Análisis musical y musicología: juego de espejos, eds. Diego García-Peinazo and Julio Ogas (Oviedo: Universidad de Oviedo, 2024), 15-34.

3. The Minuet as the epitome of the galant style

The inclusion of a Minuet is the most striking novelty found in three toccatas, Nos. 9, 12 and 13. Although the third movement of the Tocata para clarines lacks the title of «Minuet» in the manuscript, it displays the typical traits of this dance type, as will be seen later. Thus, these three toccatas likely represent the earliest known instances of a minuet appearing within a multi-movement organ work by a Spanish composer. Moreover, the inclusion of this dance form provides a noteworthy point of contrast, given that the minuet is traditionally associated not with the liturgical context of the church, but with the secular environment of the chamber. Its use is well illustrated in Corelli’s Concerti Grossi, Op. 6, Nos. 9 and 10, the last movements of which are marked Minuetto. ³⁹ Sections of the Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 9: Preludio, Largo-Allemanda, Allegro-Corrente, Vivace-Gavotta, Allegro-Adagio-Minuetto, Vivace; Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 10: Preludio, Andante, Largo-Allemanda, Allegro-Corrente-Vivace-Minuetto, Vivace. On Corelli’s Op. 6, see Agnese Pavanello, «Sullo stile dell’ Opera VI di Arcangelo Corelli», in Studi Corelliani. Atti del Quinto Congresso Internazionale (Fusignano, 9-11 settembre 1994), ed. Stefano La Via (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1996), 5:161-180. However, within the context of Spanish musical thought in the first half of the eighteenth century, the clear demarcation between sacred and secular styles remained highly significant. When the theorist Benito Feijóo (1726)Feijóo, Benito Jerónimo. «Música de los templos». In Teatro crítico universal, vol. 1, discurso XIV, no. 2. Madrid: Joaquín Ibarra, 1726.
criticized the fashionable Italian styles that were growing in Spain, he tried to save the conservatism of the sacred music, including instrumental. Here are his own words referring to the performance of minuets in church: «El que oye en el órgano el mismo menuet que oyó en el sarao, ¿qué ha de hacer, sino acordarse de la dama con quién danzó la noche antecedente?».⁴⁰ Benito Feijóo, «Música de los templos», Teatro Crítico Universal, tomo I, discurso XIV, no. 2 (Madrid: Joaquín Ibarra, 1726): «He who hears on the organ the same minuet that he heard at the ball, what effect will it have on him? None other than reminding him of the lady with whom he danced the preceding night». See the whole Feijóo quote in Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias, 58-59. The very fact that Feijóo felt compelled to condemn that custom, particularly with regard to minuets, suggests that their use in church was not an exceptional situation.

As is well known, the minuet was the most prominent French dance adopted at the Spanish court, largely due to the influence of the Bourbon king Philip V. Its popularity was both widespread and long-lasting throughout the eighteenth century. Numerous keyboard settings of minuets have survived in Spain, as evidenced by the extant sources from the early decades of the century. ⁴¹ On the contents of the Martin y Coll compilations, see José Climent, «Orgue e literature organística en l’obra d’H. Anglés i les aportacions posteriors a la seva mort» (Recerca musicològica. Congrés Internacional Higini Anglés i la musicología hispánica, 1989-1990); and José M. Llorens, «Literatura organística del siglo XVII. Fuentes, concordancias, autores, transcripciones musicales, estudios, comentarios y síntesis», (I Congreso Nacional de Musicología, Zaragoza, 1981). The four volumes by Martín i Coll (E-Mn M/1357, M/1358, M/1359, and M/1360) are held in the National Library of Madrid and digitized in www.bne.es. Thus, they are found in the compilations of Martín i Coll,⁴² The manuscript E-Mn M/1357 includes ten settings for keyboard of the French minué, some of which are arrangements of pieces by Lully. E-Mn M/1360 contains 39 settings of the minuet (for keyboard and also for violin). See Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias, 252, 262-264. On the minuets in collections for other instruments, see also Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias, 334-38. copied between 1706 and 1709, and in the Libro para clavicímbalo (1721) by Francisco de Tejada, all of which reflect performance of them associated with the Spanish court in Madrid.⁴³ An anthology of guitar works compiled in 1705 (E-Mn M/811) gives some indications of the new tastes that prevailed at the Spanish court after the arrival of Philip V; it contains several settings of French dances, including eight minuetes (Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias, 129-131). The guitar book of Santiago de Murcia, Resumen de acompañar la parte con la guitarra, of 1714 is the most famous source to reflect the reception of French dance at the Spanish court, because he was guitar master to queen Maria Luisa of Saboya, the first wife of Philip V. This book contains 29 minuets, among other French dance types. Quoted in Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias, 131-132. Therefore, it is not surprising that this fashion arrived soon in Valencia, a viceregal city where the Royal Palace was a direct extension of the royal house in Madrid.⁴⁴ As is well known, the Royal Palace of Valencia retained the maximum representation of the delegated power of the king and often simulated his physical presence to preside over the celebrations organized in his honor. Until 1707 it was the residence of the viceroy, and then of the new representative, the Capitán General, thus being the direct instrument of the crown. See Andrea Bombi, «La música en las festividades del Palacio Real de Valencia en el siglo XVIII», Revista de musicología 18, no. 1-2 (1995): 175-228.

3.1. The Use of the Minuet in Spanish Toccatas within a Sacred Context

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Samples of minuets are found in our two Valencian manuscripts, E-Bbc M 1011 and M 1012. In both cases the presence of an isolated minuet among a whole collection of liturgical works such as verses and hymns reveals their performance on the organ, and perhaps their integration in some kinds of sacred ceremonies. ⁴⁵ A dance piece labeled as Menueto in E-Bbc M 1011 (fol. 52v; not mentioned in Anglés’s description of this manuscript) is, however, a march-type, in C meter, also copied between the tientos. Minuets also appear as part of a suite-like sequence in the middle of M 1011 (fols. 75r-77r, lacking a full title), where its relevance is evident, with a proportion of seven of them among another seven movements such as marches, a bourrée, dances, and toccatas. See the sources in Anglés, «Fuentes», II, LV. Due to the instructive function of the book in which these works have been transmitted, it is difficult to know the precise context of their performance. In E-Bbc M 1011, the Menuet is copied between two tientos by Juan Cabanilles, as can be seen in the Figure 1.⁴⁶ This Menuet occupies a unique full staff between both tientos on fol. 55v (E-Bbc M 1011). The use of the ancient French name is interesting.

Figure 1.  Menuet, E-Bbc M 1011, fol. 55v. Biblioteca de Catalunya.

An isolated Minuete al organo is also preserved in manuscript E- Bbc M 1012 (fol. 134r), after the Toccata de mano derecha by Vicente Rodríguez and followed by the Tocata de 5º tono punto alto. Both minuets are short and stylistically simple, retaining a dance-like character that sets them apart from other movements whose instrumental elaboration diverges from the dance model (as will be seen later in the minuet of the Tocata de ecos y contraecos). ⁴⁷ As stated by Esses, the terms ecos and contraecos both refer to an innovation in the Spanish organ during the seventeenth century that consists of the construction of some stops so that they can sound at two different volumes. This allowed the organist to create an echo effect, with the typical echo ranks, such as cornets and reeds (clarín and bajoncillo). The mechanism for creating this effect is described by Pablo Nassarre, Escuela música (Zaragoza: Herederos de Diego de Larumbe, 1724), vol. 1, book. IV, chap. 20, 499-500: «En que se trata de la afinación de los órganos en toda especie de cañutería» (which concerns the tuning of organs across all types of pipework). See Esses, Dance and Instrumental Diferencias, 238.

Figure 2.  Minuet for organ, E-Bbc M 1012, fol. 134r. Biblioteca de Catalunya.

Furthermore, it seems to have been a certain tendency in Spain, around the early eighteenth century, to include the galant minuet inside the sacred repertoire, such as in paraliturgical vocal works ⁴⁸ It must be remembered that the minuet was also disseminated in Spain through other vocal genres, such as villancicos and cantatas. During the period 1701-1709, coinciding with the introduction of Italianate sections (recitatives and arias placed between the traditional estribillos and coplas —refrains and verses— of the villancico), there were added other movements such as Grave and Minuet. A Villancico from 1704 performed at the Royal Chapel includes some Minuets sung between the estribillos and coplas by a Frenchman, as explained by Álvaro Torrente, «Italianate Sections in the Villancicos of the Royal Chapel», in Music in Spain during the Eighteenth Century, eds. Malcolm Boyd and Juan José (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 75. According to Torrente, the use of sections such as minuets (along with Grave and Fuga) in the villancicos of the royal chapel declined after 1714 and ceased after 1721 (Torrente, «Italianate Sections», 78). See also Juan JoséCarreras, «Spanish Cantatas in the Mackworth Collection at Cardiff». In Music in Spain during the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 108-122; and Andrea Bombi, «“The Third Villancico Was a Motet”: the Villancico and Related Genres», in Devotional Music in the Iberian World, 1450-1800, eds. Tess Knighton and Álvaro Torrente (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998), 183. as well in the more specific genres for the organ, as seen in the toccatas by Rodríguez.

3.2. The Minuet as an Integrated Movement in the Toccatas

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3.2.1. Tocata para clarines and Tocata ala ytaliana by Rodríguez

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Returning to the Tocata para clarines, it can be seen that the minuet presents the canonical traits of this dance type: 3/4 meter and a regular 4+4 phrase structure. It features the «calm nobility, serenity and melodic simplicity» of the French model. ⁴⁹ Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne, Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991), 73. However, this work also has a pastoral character, because the two upper voices move in parallel thirds: an imitation of piffari, instruments traditionally associated with a bucolic landscape and the idealized Arcadian world of the shepherd. Furthermore, a pedal note of D, to be played with the contra (pedal) furnishes a musette-like sonority that reinforces the rustic style usually associated with the pastoral world (see Example 2).⁵⁰ On the concept of pastoral (pastorale) and musette, see Raymond Monelle, The Musical Topic. Hunt, Military and Pastoral (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), 111-112; and Águeda Pedrero-Encabo, «Ecos de la Arcadia: tópicos en la Sonata en mi menor de Blasco de Nebra (1750-1784)», in Musicología en transición, eds. Javier Marín, Asunción Mazuela-Anguita and Juan José Pastor-Comín (Madrid: SEdeM, 2022), 1062. It should be remembered that the pastorela was also used in church at Christmas time and that it was introduced as a section into villancicos in the second quarter of the eighteenth century in Spain.⁵¹ On the pastorela in the Spanish villancico, see Pilar Ramos, «Pastorelas and the Pastoral Tradition in Eighteenth-Century Spanish Villancicos», in Devotional Music in the Iberian World, 1450-1800: The Villancico and Related Genres, eds. Tess Knighton and Álvaro Torrente (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), 301-302. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that, owing to these associations, the minuet became more appropriate to be performed in an ecclesiastical context.

Example 2.  V. Rodríguez, [Minuet], Tocata para clarines de batalla, mm. 1-4.

Nevertheless, although the most frequent link to the musette’s effect was the pastorela or siciliana dance in compound meter, its connection with the minuet became usual during the galant period. ⁵² On this specific mixture of minuet and musette see Pedrero-Encabo, «Tocata de batalla», 27-28. For a discussion on the concept of trope or the blending of oppositional semantic topics, see Robert S. Hatten, Interpreting Musical Gestures. Tropics, and Tropes. Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004), 68. In fact, this was the association made by Corelli in his Largo Pastorale da libitum from the famous Christmas Concerto, Op. 6, No. 8. A particularly well-documented instance of the relationship between the minuet and the musette is found in Minuet II of J. S. Bach’s Partita for Solo Violin, No. 3, BWV 1063, which begins with a musette-like opening. As seen in Example 3, the note B is held for three measures at the beginning in an emulation of the musette sound, it is found again in mm. 9-10, and note E is held in mm. 11-12.

Example 3.  J. S. Bach, Menuett 2, Partita for Violin No. 3, BWV 1006, mm. 1-15. From Günter Hausswald, ed., Neue Bach-Ausgabe, series VI, vol. 1 (Kassel: Bärenreiter Verlag, 1958). Public Domain.

The minuet of Rodríguez’s toccata offers special interest because of its similarity to the Largo of the Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 1 by Corelli, just the one that Rodríguez arranged in the Tocata ala ytaliana, as has already been mentioned. ⁵³ This toccata is copied on folios 106v-108v of manuscript M 1011, probably after 1727 (see foodnote 31). There is no doubt, therefore, that the minuet’s resemblance to Corelli’s Largo Pastorale is not coincidental, but in all likelihood, emerged from Rodriguez’s reception of his concertos. In the minuet of Tocata de ecos there are no strict quotations but a free variation of the theme from Corelli’s Largo Pastorale.⁵⁴ This should be considered a sampling of an arrangement that goes beyond quotation to transformative imitation, according to the study of Winemiller about Handel, one of the most famous borrowers from the same period. John T. Winemiller, «Handel’s Borrowing», Journal of Musicology 15, no. 3 (1997): 444-470. As seen in an excerpt from Corelli’s work (Example 4), the two violin voices begin by moving in parallel thirds, as also appears in the minuet of the organ toccata. Although Corelli does not present the held note in such an evident way as a pedal, a certain similar effect is observed with the bass notes D (repeated an octave lower) and E in mm. 1 and 3, respectively.

On the other hand, Corelli’s work develops during its first three measures a short progression following the schema of the Monte-Romanesca (Example 5). Federe Fenaroli (1730-1818), in his Partimenti (ca. 1770s) describes this pattern as a kind of Monte as having a bass «that rises a fifth and falls a fourth». ⁵⁵ Federe Fenaroli, Partimenti, ossia basso numerato (Bologna: A. Forni, 1978), book 3, no 12, m. 1. Cited in Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 98. Gjerdingen gives a general definition of the schemata as the harmonic patterns commonly used by composers during the galant period. His study describes each schema with illustrations taken from the most significant composers. An amplification of his list of schemata is found mainly in the works of Byros and Rice. On the Romanesca schema see Vasily Byros, «Mozart’s Vintage Corelli: the Microstory of a Fonte-Romanesca», Integral 31 (2017): 63-89. More examples by Corelli can be seen in John Rice, «Climbing Monte Romanesca: Eighteenth-Century Composers in Search of the Sublime», 8-11. On recent studies of the Romanesca schema see also Olga Sánchez-Kisielewska, «Interactions between Topics and Schemata: The Case of the Sacred Romanesca», Theory and Practice 41 (2016): 47-80; and Olga Sánchez-Kisielewska, «The Romanesca as a Spiritual Sign in the Operas of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven», in Singing in Signs: New Semiotic Explorations of Opera, eds. Gregory J. Decker and Matthew Shaftel (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 163-192. The first bass note of each unit ascends (1-2-3), in contrast to the standard Romanesca, which always descends (Example 4). This is why Gjerdingen chose to term it Monte-Romanesca.⁵⁶ Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 99.

Example 4.  Corelli, Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 1, Largo, mm. 1-8, Monte Romanesca.

This schema by Corelli is maintained in Rodríguez’s Tocata ala ytaliana arranged from the concerto, as shown in Example 5. The toccata movement is an almost identical transcription of the concerto’s Largo. But an obvious difference is the elimination of passing through E minor, without the raising of the note D as D#.

Example 5.  V. Rodríguez, Tocata ala ytaliana, [Largo-Minuet], mm. 1-10.

In contrast, Rodríguez displays here a somewhat more galant cadence: although he does not include the typical 6-4 appoggiatura (but only the 4, as in Corelli), he duplicates this dissonance (with a clashing fourth in both chords of the dominant). Furthermore, he repeats the 5 an octave lower, reaching the keynote, as occurs in the cadenza composta (‘compound cadence’), which is the basis for the standard clausula in galant music. ⁵⁷ Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 141. On other galant-cadence types see his chapter 11 (139-176). These subtle variants, then, reflect Rodríguez’s mastery of galant-style conventions and his understanding of these schemata, shaped by Corelli’s model.

3.2.2. Tocata de ecos y contraecos

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The second piece to be examined is Tocata de ecos y contraecos. ⁵⁸ On the correlations between the works and the introduction of new stops in the Valencian organs see José Climent, «El órgano de la catedral de Valencia. Primera reforma posterior a Juan Cabanilles», Revista de musicología 2, no. 1 (1979): 138-142; and the English preface in Rodríguez, Obres per a orgue, ed. Pedrero-Encabo, 58-62. Archival documentation about the organ of the Cathedral of Valencia indicates the creation of several new stops that «han de estar dentro de la Arca de los Ecos con todo lo necesario para ellos» (have to be inside the swell-box with everything needed for them). See the full description in Climent, «El órgano», 140. The first reference to the modernization of this organ dates from 1720, made by Nicolas Salanova, who introduced new stops for modern music («registros de música moderna»). However, references to the swell-box in the organs of other Valencian churches have been found in 1682-1687, according to Louis Jambou, «La dinámica en la organería y en las obras organísticas de los años 1700. Alabanza de la caja expresiva en el órgano ibérico», Revista de musicología 34, no. 1 (2011): 59-96. Although the composer is not identified in the manuscript source, it could be attributed to Vicente Rodríguez based on stylistic similarities with his other organ toccatas. For example, it is also modeled on the tiento-canzona structure (Example 6), with the inclusion of a minuet as an unexpected final movement (Example 7).⁵⁹ The «second part» is a rhythmic variation of the theme of the «first part»: although they are already considered as two independent movements, the Spanish terminology is still used.

Example 6.  [V. Rodríguez], Tocata de ecos, first two movements, incipits.

The piece presents themes that are typical of battle works: repeated notes in fanfare style, unfolding triads, and leaps of a fifth. Even the minuet displays a different shape from usual, as it expands to over 60 measures on the basis of echo repetitions (similar to forte-piano contrasts). As in the Tocata para clarines analyzed above, the reeds-stops sonority of the minuet reinforces its connection with the rest of the piece. However, its intimate theme, cantabile phrasing, and elegant rhythm are typical of this galant dance (Example 7). Therefore, it creates an evident contrast with the rest of the piece, which captures the battle atmosphere (see Example 6).

This minuet of the Tocata de ecos shows a similarity to the final movement of Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, the Pastorale ad libitum. Largo (see the Example 8). The main difference lies in the fact that Corelli’s Largo is written in 12/8 and reflects the characteristics of the siciliana rhythm, marked by a distinctive long-short pattern in each voice. Nevertheless, a pastoral tone is present in both pieces, marked by the sustained use of tonic G and dominant D as pedal tones, evoking the effect of the rustic musette (Exx. 7 and 8).

As illustrated in Examples 7 and 8, the first eight measures of the minuet seems a melodic variation of the initial two measures of the Corelli’s movement.

Example 7.  [V. Rodríguez], Tocata de ecos, III, Minuet, mm. 1-8.

Example 8.  Corelli, Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 8, Fatto per la notte di Natale, Pastorale ad libitum, mm. 1-3. The Heartz.

This allusion becomes more evident in the use, in certain passages, of motives built on parallel thirds —an idiom characteristic of the pifferari style traditionally associated with the pastoral genre. Similar to Corelli, Rodríguez develops the theme in parallel thirds, although he generally reduces the original three-voice texture to two voices. It is therefore reasonable to consider the possibility that the composer —presumably Rodríguez or another Spanish colleague— may have drawn inspiration from this piece by Corelli.

However, by comparing the two works in detail, a particular difference may be detected. The Corelli movement displays at the beginning the Heartz, a schema identified by John Rice, who named it after the musicologist Daniel Heartz (see Example 8). According to Rice, this schema is based on a subdominant harmony over a tonic pedal. ⁶⁰ See John Rice, «The Heartz, a Galant Schema from Corelli to Mozart», Music Theory Spectrum 35, no. 2 (2014): 315-332. Rice used the same passage from Corelli to illustrate this schema (319). However, this device is absent in the Tocata de ecos, as the bass line lacks a pedal note necessary to establish the six-four chord. Consequently, the characteristic shift to the subdominant, as described by Heartz, does not occur in the organ minuet. Instead, a predominantly two-voiced texture prevails, resulting in a simplified harmonic structure. It is only through the parallel motion in thirds and the melodic lines that the correspondence between the two works becomes apparent.

3.2.3. Tocata de mano derecha de 8º tono ad libitu[m]

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The last Minuet to be discussed is that of the Tocata de mano derecha de 8º tono ad libitu[m], an anonymous piece that could also be attributed to Rodríguez. The structural plan of this toccata reveals the heritage of the tiento-canzona, with rhythmic variations among the opening themes of the three first movements (still portraying a sectional conception, as revealed by their titles: second part, and third part). The opening of each movement exhibits an imitative texture characteristic of the traditional tiento, although, as a toccata, it presents a more transparent texture consisting of two or three voices.

Example 9.  [V. Rodríguez], Tocata de mano derecha de 8º tono ad libitum, incipits.

Despite these traditional elements, the inclusion of the minuet stands out as a notable instance of the reception of the emerging galant style. The idea of the sonata da camera is emphasized, as all movements are based on dance-like meters: a giga-like 12/8 in the second movement, and 6/8 in the first and third. This succession of danceable tempi actually represents a novelty in Spanish organ music of the time (see Table 1). ⁶¹ On classifying metrical types and the associations of triple meters in the galant style, see Allanbrook, Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart, 13-30, and Figure 1 of the metrical spectrum on p. 67.

Finally, it should be noted that, although the irregular phrasing of this toccata aligns more closely with the old-fashioned Baroque Fortspinnung than with the galant style, some pre-galant cadences begin to articulate the discourse. Two models prevail: a 1-7-1 or a 2-1-1 voice-leading pattern in the top voice, combined with a 4/3 chord above the V in the bass (in the V-I cadence). Both cadential articulations appear throughout this toccata; however, the 2-1-1 pattern —where the final tonic is anticipated as a fourth in the dominant chord— is especially common and functions as a cliché (see Example 10). ⁶² It is found four times in the first 20 measures of the first movement and then during the second part and throughout the third movement. It is common in these cadential patterns for the bass line to make an octave leap downward over the fifth degree before resolving to the tonic, a gesture quite typical of galant models. Nevertheless, the subsequent entrance of another voice on an anacrusis, presenting similar thematic material, reinforces the sense of continuous phrasing.

Example 10.  [V. Rodríguez], Tocata de mano derecha de 8º tono ad libitum, I, mm. 10-11; Tercera parte, m. 57: pre-galant cadences.

This type of cadence appears at the end of some minuets and toccatas from Codex E-Bbc M 1011, but as a simple (semplice) cadence, lacking the octave leap above the fifth degree. ⁶³ See Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 141. Example 11 is an excerpt taken from the isolated Menuet copied between two tientos by Cabanilles, as mentioned above.

Example 11.  Anonymous, Menuet, MS E-Bbc M 1011 (fol. 55v), Do-re-mi and pre-galant cadence 2-1-1, mm. 7-8.

Thus, probably, the influence of such cadences came through dance-pieces like this one, although not all of them feature typical galant clausulae, or any schemata either. This Menuet does not employ the schemata systematically, although a Do-Re-Mi is provided in mm. 2-4, as seen in Example 12. Gjerdingen states that this schema, along with the Romanesca, constituted one of the most frequently employed opening gambits in the galant style. ⁶⁴ This schema is based in a succession of do-re-mi (1-2-3) in the melody and do-si-do (1-7-1) in the bass. See Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 77-78.

The modernity of this piece is also evident in its novel notational system, employing the current clefs on two staves, which is typical of the transparent two-voice texture characteristic of the galant style. In contrast, the two of Cabanilles’s tientos copied next are in the archaic system in old clefs over three or four staves, typical of the polyphonic writing of the learned style (see the Figure 1). ⁶⁵ It is noteworthy that similar pre-galant patterns also appear in Handel’s keyboard works from his early Italian period, as documented by Terence Best, «Handel and the Keyboard», in The Cambridge Companion to Handel, ed. Donald Burrows (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 213. Corelli used both types of cadence: the galant type with the 6/4 chord and the simpler pattern over a 4/3 chord, as can be found in the Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 4, which was also known in Rodríguez’s environment, as will be seen below.

Turning to the minuet of the Toccata de mano derecha (for the right hand), it follows the Italian style, characterized by its fast tempo in 3/8 time. ⁶⁶ It is related to the passepied, described by Jean le Rond d’Alembert in his «as a rather lively minuet» in Jean le Rond d’Alembert, Eléments de musique (Lyon: J. M. Bruyset, 1762), 209. Cited in Ratner, Classic Music, 11. After an upbeat introduction, the movement presents regular phrasing grouped into 4+4 measures, with an antecedent phrase (mm. 1-4) that is repeated, both ending in a half cadence. Each phrase is based on the Romanesca schema, employing a variant characterized by a stepwise descent over a fourth, outlining a tetrachord in the major mode (see Example 15).⁶⁷ This type of Romanesca, characterized by a stepwise bass, is considered by Gjerdingen to be more archaic in comparison to the later Galant version (Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 28-34). This bass, it is pertinent to note, constitutes one of the conventional patterns for the ciaccona.⁶⁸ Richard Hudson, «Further Remarks on the Passacaglia and Ciaccona», Journal of the American Musicological Society 23, no. 2 (1970): 312. See also Ludwig Holtmeier, «Robert O. Gjerdingen: Music in the Galant Style», Eighteenth-Century Music 8, no. 2 (2011): 309-311.

Example 12.  [V. Rodríguez], Tocata de mano derecha de 8º tono ad libitu[m], Minuet, mm. 1-8. Stepwise Romanesca (x2).

Nevertheless, the ternary meter and major key reinforce its connection with the old ciaccona, the popular and unbridled dance. This baile has a long tradition in the Spanish instrumental music dating back from to the sixteenth century, serving as a ground for diferencias, or variations. Yet, it was consistently associated with secular pieces, and never with the genres of the tiento and the toccata. ⁶⁹ In the vocal repertoire his usual scheme is the popular street version, which has a leaping bass; whereas in the instrumental chaconnes the cultivated version prevails, with a descending tetrachord in minor or major mode. Miguel Querol gives two Spanish examples of the tetrachord in G major from the Martín i Coll manuscript entitled Huerto ameno de varias flores de música recogidas de muchos organistas, copied in 1708 (E-Mn M/1359). See Querol, «La chacona en la época de Cervantes», Anuario Musical 25 (1970): 65. In the eighteenth century the popular chacona also became a courtly movement, after its acquired seriousness in operatic and keyboard works by French composers. On this topic see Francis G. Very, «A Note on the Isle of Chacona and a Corpus Christi Dance», Western States Folklore (1959): 243.

Instances of employing this same Romanesca schema as an opening gambit occur in several works by Corelli. However, he does not utilize the ground within a ternary dance meter. Different types can be observed, for example, in the third movement, Adagio, from the Sonata da chiesa Op. 1, No. 5, where it has a chromatic descent: G-F#-F-Eb-D; in the Giga from the Sonata da camera Op. 2, No. 2, D-C-Bb-A. And finally, it can be observed in the Vivace of the Sonata Op. 3, No. 6, G-F#-E-D (see Example 13), where it exhibits the same pattern found in the minuet of the Toccata ad libitu[m], namely, the Stepwise Romanesca schema based on a descending tetrachord in the bass in the major mode, G:

Example 13.  Corelli, Sonata Op. 3, No. 6, I, Vivace, mm. 1-2. Stepwise Romanesca.

Although Corelli was not the sole figure responsible for disseminating this schema as an opening motif, he nonetheless made prominent use of it, as Gjerdingen has also indicated. ⁷⁰ According to Gjerdingen, every type of Romanesca can be found in Corelli’s Op. 5 (Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 60). Moreover, it is unsurprising that Rodríguez —or a Spanish colleague—, would adopt Corelli as a model, considering the aforementioned formal and thematic connections with his works.

Aside from the descending tetrachord Romanesca found in the minuet and the interpretative adaptations of Corelli’s Concerto in D minor schemata in the Tocata a la ytaliana, no additional schemata are used in these organ toccatas analyzed. ⁷¹ Although several sequential formulas in the Corelli style —such as suspension chains of thirds or fifths— appear also in some passagework, there is no intent here to analyze the harmonic influence from Corelli, because this chapter focuses on examining the galant traits. This raises the question of whether such a selective approach reflects a deliberate effort to preserve the characteristics of the traditional Spanish style within this specific genre. This hypothesis appears plausible, considering Rodríguez’s familiarity with Corelli’s repertoire, alongside copies of Corelli’s sonatas transmitted in the same manuscript as his works.

4. The reception of galant schemas in the tocata de 5º tono punto alto

The last toccata to be analyzed, however, offers a different perspective. It features an impressive use of the schemata along with certain similarities to Corelli’s characteristic melodic traits. This is the Tocata de 5º tono punto alto, a work that has been transmitted anonymously and was copied by the same hand as the rest of the toccatas in manuscript M 1012. The copyist retains the ancient modal nomenclature for the key of D major, as the fifth mode of C major transposed a whole tone higher, or punto alto. ⁷² This does not necessarily imply that the composer was Spanish, although such a possibility cannot be ruled out, given other aspects of the toccata —such as the abrupt brevity of the first section of its opening movement and the distinctive adaptation of certain sequential progressions characteristic of Corelli’s style. This toccata is written in a markedly different style from those previously discussed. In fact, this work is more accurately described as a sonata da camera for keyboard than as a true toccata. It consists of four movements arranged in the typical structure of the sonata da camera: slow-fast-slow-fast. Although the first movement lacks a tempo indication, a tempo slower than the following Allegro can reasonably be assumed. The sequence then continues with Allegro-Largo-Allegro. All these movements, with the exception of the Largo, are in binary form, typical of dance pieces from this period. Their length is consistent with that of such movements and significantly shorter than the toccatas discussed above.⁷³ For example, the Largo has only a total of 22 measures and introduces a tonal contrast in the relative minor, B minor, whereas the rest of the movements are in D major. The second Allegro features a very irregular ternary form, where the first part consists of one idea of only four measures, while the second part has the re-exposition of that initial theme (at m. 24), expanded for ten more measures.

The most striking characteristic of this piece is its distinct similarity with the style of Corelli. In fact, several noteworthy coincidences with the fifth movement of his Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 4 have been observed. The first movement of the toccata is clearly an arrangement of the Allegro (fifth movement) of this concerto. As shown in the examples, both works are in D major and begin with a Galant Romanesca schema. ⁷⁴ This schema is featured by the bass line 1-7-6-3, and, as in the Romanesca, the melodic line 1 preceded by 5 or vice versa (but the melodic contour in the Galant Romanesca was no very important). See Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 32. Moreover, they exhibit melodic similarities, and their lines are essentially harmonic in nature (Examples 14 and 15).

It is clear that the contrasting triplets found in Corelli’s work (mm. 3 and 5) are absent from the toccata, which instead begins with a more rhythmically animated phrase, further energized by the upbeat entry of the bass notes (see Example 15). After another Romanesca, in m. 3 (Example 16), the first part of this toccata movement ends suddenly with a pre-galant cadence of type 2-1-1 (6-5-5-over degree 5), as mentioned already (mm. 4-5).

This abruptness results in a markedly brief section —only four full measures— compared to the Allegro of the Concerto, whose opening section extends to 38 measures. Corelli’s Allegro (fifth movement) of Concerto No. 4 unfolds through a series of sequential schemata: a Monte ⁷⁵ The Monte principale has a bass that rises a fourth and falls a third. It is described in Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 98. in mm. 13-18 (see Example 18), followed by a Do-Re-Mi⁷⁶ The basic type of the Do-Re-Mi is 1-2-3 in the melody over 1-7-1 in the bass. See Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 77. (mm. 18-20), and a Prinner⁷⁷ The Prinner is a parallel stepwise descent in the melody 6-5-4-3 over a bass 4-3-2-1; with a sequence of chords in 5/3, 6/3, 6/3 and 5/3 positions. It was often used as the riposte or answer to an opening gambit. See the prototype of the schema in Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 455. (mm. 21-23), which leads into a Ponte⁷⁸ According to Riepel, the Italian word monte meant «a mountain to climb up into», «fonte meant a well to climb down into», and ponte meant «a bridge to cross over» (Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 198). «The Ponte is a bridge built on the repetition or extension of the dominant triad or seventh chord» (quoted from openmusictheory.com published by Robin Wharton and Kris Shaffer). For other variants see Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 200-203. stated twice (mm. 24-28 and 31-34), culminating in a perfect cadence.

After the double barline in m. 4, the toccata presents the Monte schema ⁷⁹ Monte is a sequential transposition of the first material a step higher. The Monte prototype has four events, arranged in two stages, but three sequences can also be involved. Usually it is in major mode; but when it has three sequences, the last can be in a minor key, as seen in the analyzed examples. See Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 89. (see Example 17). Shaped in a three-part type, it outlines the typical Corellian falling thirds (see Example 18).

This example corresponds to the passage from Corelli’s Allegro of Concerto No. 4 (mm. 13-18), in the Example 18. Despite differences in figuration, both works adhere to the same schema and follow an identical sequential ascent through G major, A major, and B minor:

This expanded three-event form of the Monte schema was frequently used. In fact, Gjerdingen presents examples of this expanded model in two sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata K. 220 (mm. 22-31) and Sonata K. 219 (mm. 45-50). However, the most interesting aspect is that both the anonymous toccata and Corelli’s concerto develop the same variant of the Monte scheme. Instead of the typical 5-4-3 melody descent, they reduce it to 5-3. This reflects Corelli’s characteristic use of third leaps, which, when arranged in an ascending sequence like this, represent a simplified or lightened version of the Leapfrog schema. ⁸⁰ The Corellian passage called Leapfrog is formulated by a series of 2-3 suspensions caused by a sequentially rising alto voice. In Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 201. Therefore, this provides further evidence that the toccata was modeled on Corelli’s example. It is even highly probable that this is a borrowing, given the close correspondence in both the schematic structure and the tonalities of the modulating sequences.

The toccata movement proceeds with a formulaic passage based on 7-6 suspensions, outlining a descending sequence of falling fifths in the bass line (mm. 9-11). Gjerdingen identifies this as a Prinner circle-of-fifths, that is, essentially a Prinner expanded through a sequence of descending fifths. This sequence, combined with the ascending sixth leaps in the upper voice, evokes a passage that is highly characteristic of Corelli’s style, as demonstrated in Example 19. ⁸¹ Some examples can be seen in Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 54, 180.

The anonymous toccata concludes with a simple cadence that mirrors the closing cadence of Corelli’s final Allegro in Concerto No. 4, in which some improvised ornamentation was probably added. However, unlike the Concerto, the Toccata features a Converging cadence before the final cadence —an expressive schema characterized by an ascending chromatic bass line (3-4-♯4-5). In this case, the melody does not follow the typical descending pattern (3-2-1-7), but instead outlines a Do-Re-Mi (1-2-3, see Example 20).

According to Gjerdingen, this cadential schema was highly popular during the galant period, giving rise to several subtypes. ⁸² Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 160. Corelli employed it in various cadences throughout his works, sometimes even omitting the descent in the upper voice, as is the case in the Toccata.⁸³ This can be observed in the final cadence of the Grave in Sonata Op. 3, No. 7, where it is reinforced by another, stronger cadence, similarly to what occurs in the toccata. In the toccata the Converging cadence is reinforced by a simple 5-1, whereas Corelli provides a complete perfect one, 4-5-1. To have an idea of how frequently the Converging cadence was used by Corelli, here is a list: a cadential pattern following the bass line 4-#4-5-(5)-1 in the Graves of Sonatas Op. 1, Nos. 1 and 8; the Preludio-Largo of Sonata No. 3 and Sarabanda–Largo of Sonata 10 from Op. 2; the Graves of Sonatas Nos. 3, 5, 7, and 11 and the Grave and three Adagios of Sonata No. 12, all from Op. 3; the Adagio of Sonata Op. 4, No. 4; the Allegro of Sonata Op. 5, No. 6, second movement; the last Allegro (marked Adagio) of the Concerto No. 2 and the Allegro of Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 7, sixth movement.

The following table compiles the schemas explained for the first movement of the toccata (Table 2).

In the second movement of the Toccata, Allegro, the varied repetition of the opening two measures aligns with the Concerto Grosso model, suggesting an echo-based performance that takes advantage of the organ’s stop effects (Example 21). Thus, the short theme is an inverted Do-Re-Mi (1-2-3) followed by a closing cadence, which is repeated as a Mi-Re-Do response (3-2-1).

In addition to the systematic use of schemata, measures 18-19 showcase violinistic figuration characteristic of Corelli, constructed upon a Ponte schema (Example 22). Notably, the pedal point on scale degree 5 is placed in the melody rather than the bass, which is atypical for this pattern. Of particular interest is the pedal point on scale degree 5, which appears in the melody rather than the bass —an atypical placement for this pattern. Equally significant is the use of a variant of the Fenaroli schema, presented twice (see Example 22, mm. 32-34; 35-38).

Gjerdingen defined the canonical model as comprising four distinct events, which are typically repeated several times in succession to create a passage. The bass line follows the scale degrees 7-1-2-3 (ti-do-re-mi), while the melody moves through 4-3-7-1 (fa-mi-ti-do). ⁸⁴ Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 226 ss.; 462. An internal upper pedal point on 5 is also frequently present.⁸⁵ Although the bass line invariably adheres to the sequence 7-1-2-3, the melodic line exhibits flexibility, taking on patterns like 3-2-7-1 or 4-6-7-1, as exemplified in the anonymous toccata. See Vasili Byros, «Trazom’s Witt: Communicative Strategies in a “Popular” yet “Difficult” Sonata», Eighteenth Century Music 10, no. 2 (2013): 220.

The correspondence of the last Toccata’s movement with the schemata of Corelli’s concertos is particularly noteworthy. The Anonymous Allegro exhibits the recognizable Corellian style of the Giga, characterized by its distinctive 12/8 meter and a figuration based on eighth-note triplets. Following an opening with a inverted Do-Re-Mi, it prominently features the Pastorella schema (Example 23), a model frequently employed by composers of the Neapolitan school. As described by Gjerdingen, this schema consists of two complementary events: a melodic line of 3-2-4-3 (mi-re-fa-mi) accompanied by a bass line of 1-5-5-1 (do-sol-sol-do). ⁸⁶ Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 118. The first event is do-re and the second fa-mi, because there is a melodic similarity between both events, but in the bass, the second event is a mirrored from the first (do-sol-sol-do). See in the examples by Hasse, where the second event features a similar motive placed a second higher. In the example of the toccata the melody of the second event is identical, a second up. The famous aria by Hasse, Per questo dolce amplesso, which Farinelli sang for Philip V during his time at the Royal Palace in Madrid, opens with a Pastorella that follows the same melodic succession as the schema found in the toccata (1-3-2-2-4-3), thereby confirming the spread of this variant.⁸⁷ The Pastorella schema of this aria from Hasse’s Artaserse (1734) can be found in Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 119.

The combination of a Deceptive cadence followed by a Complete cadence was a frequently recurring formula in the galant period. In the toccata’s final Allegro, each closing section of the binary form is articulated by a double cadence: a Deceptive cadence followed by a Complete cadence (see Example 24). This double cadence is constructed in the toccata on a parallel sequence in the bass line, that is, repeating the same pattern: leading first from 3 to 5-6, and second from 3 to 5-1. ⁸⁸ That is the parallel construction found in several partimenti (instructional basses), according to the instances observed by Gjerdingen. However, the Corellian models are earlier than those partimenti mentioned, which date from the second half of the eighteenth century. Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 150. It seems modeled on that of the fifth movement of Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 4 (Example 25).⁸⁹ The deceptive cadence is named inganno in Italian and rota or de engaño in Spanish. Particularly noteworthy is the similar design of the triplet motives in the upper voice, set over a bass-line movement that closely resembles that of the keyboard Toccata.

Corelli employs this cadential pattern with some frequency. ⁹⁰ It has been detected in four works, but only two of them have a parallel construction: the ends of the Allemande in Sonata Op. 2, No. 2 and the Giga Allegro in Sonata Op. 5, No. 5. The ends of the Allemande and the Largo in Sonata Op. 2, No. 9 are not parallel. However, he heightens the suspense of the deceptive cadence by repeating the pattern three times before reaching its resolution:

One final point of correspondence merits mention: the Monte that opens the second section of the concluding Allegro in this toccata closely resembles Corelli’s Giga from Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 12, mm. 62-65 (Example 28). The construction of the schema is identical in both works: a similar outlining melodic line, displayed in a descending broken chord, is followed by an ascending leap culminating in the appoggiatura 4-3 over the keynote (see Examples 27 and 28). Additionally, the bass line in both pieces features a chromatic ascending tetrachord articulated in long note values.

It therefore seems evident that the anonymous author was not constrained to imitate or adapt a specific work, but rather demonstrated familiarity with various schemata and characteristic melodic figures drawn from the broader output of Corelli, especially the Op. 6 compositions.

With respect to the potential authorship of this toccata, it would be plausible to attribute it to Vicente Rodríguez, given his well-grounded familiarity with Corelli’s works. This hypothesis is further supported by his previously mentioned adaptation of Corelli’s Concerto in D minor in the Tocata a la ytaliana con clarines. Although the piece does not constitute a literal transcription of Corelli’s work, the Largo section warrants particular attention, as it corresponds to the Adagio of the concerto. Rather than replicating the corresponding measures from Corelli, which feature a compound cadence in F-sharp minor (Example 29, mm. 2-3) prepared by an emphasis on the subdominant, B minor (VII/IV), Rodríguez instead develops a Monte schema. This results in a sequential ascending progression from B minor to D major, eventually returning to B minor before reaching the final cadence in F-sharp minor (see Example 30).

Thus, in taking this free approach to the original Corelli Adagio, Rodríguez demonstrates the depth of his knowledge of the master’s works and the extent to which he had acquired the tools in the use of the galant schemata. Considering that this toccata was first copied in the older of the two sources under analysis, E-Bbc M 1011, it appears that Vicente Rodríguez and composers from his circle soon assimilated the galant schemata techniques from Corelli’s works.

5. Conclusions

The study of the toccatas preserved in two closely related manuscript sources originating from the Valencian milieu reveals the gradual incorporation of the galant style into the organ repertoire. This stylistic mixture predominates in most of the toccatas analyzed, in contrast to those excluded from the study (see Table 1), which largely adhere to the traditional style characterized by the idiom inherited from the tiento, blended with elements of the Baroque toccata. However, in the works of Vicente Rodríguez and two anonymous toccatas —attributable to him— a particularly striking fusion emerges, combining features of the tiento de batalla with a hybridization of the sonata da chiesa and sonata da camera models as disseminated by Corelli, along with the incorporation of stylistic elements characteristic of the galant style. In this sense, the inclusion of a Minuet stands out. Originally associated with dance in courtly spaces, it reflects the new style: elegant, simple, and a paradigm of good taste. It appears in three toccatas, seamlessly integrated into compositions conceived for a sacred context. This assertion is supported by the registration indicated in these works (horizontal reeds, echo and contra-echo stops, timpani), which corresponds to the innovations introduced in the configuration of the Iberian organ. Certain melodic connections and schemata in these Minuets may reflect the influence of Corelli’s works —an association clearly confirmed by Vicente Rodríguez’s Tocata a la ytaliana, a striking example of intertextuality with Corelli’s Concerto in D major (Op. 6, No. 1). However, in many passages, this work remains faithful to the aesthetics of the traditional style, characterized by the imitative texture typical of the tiento and by toccata-like writing in which the distinctive style of the Bolognese violinist becomes diluted. This hybridization of the traditional style, which reveals a certain openness to galant elements, while allegedly avoiding direct imitation of Corelli’s style, may be understood as a stylistic decision by the composers themselves, aimed at preserving the legacy of the traditional idiom in Spanish organ toccatas and motivated by a commitment to a musical language deemed appropriate to the sacredness of the liturgical space. The writings of contemporary theorists were quite explicit in warning about the dangers posed by the intrusion of secular musical airs into the church, as exemplified by the critique cited by Feijóo.

Furthermore, the application of schema theory as an analytical tool has enabled the identification of connections between certain toccatas and Corelli’s works, revealing a more significant aspect: the integration and emulation of his musical style. The shared use of schemata, as compositional mental patterns identified through specific melodic-harmonic structures, confirms that the imitation of Corelli also involved the appropriation of his compositional principles. This is exemplified in the Largo from Vicente Rodríguez’s Tocata ala ytaliana, where the Spanish composer develops the strategically placed three-part Monte schema. In this case, the passage does not simply imitate Corelli’s style, but instead reflects the Valencian organist’s own creative agency. In all movements of the Anonymous Tocata de 5º tono punto alto, the variety of schemata used reflects a high degree of familiarity with this compositional practice (see Tables 2 and 3). Therefore, this work demonstrates a systematic application of this compositional system, likely stemming from pedagogical training, given that the sources originate from the Colegio del Corpus Christi and from organists who developed their teaching at this institution and the Cathedral of Valencia, including Vicente Rodríguez himself.

This analysis demonstrates that the adoption of galant compositional principles took place relatively early in Valencia —around the first quarter of the eighteenth century— and that this development in organ toccatas appears to have been a direct consequence of the reception of Corelli’s works. His influence was fundamental in the dissemination of galant schemata, aligning with Robert Gjerdingen’s assertion: «though Corelli did not invent the galant style, he played an important role in its dissemination». ⁹¹ Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 60. His Op. 5 was the quintessential collection whose dissemination throughout Europe marked a milestone; in fact, the sonatas copied in manuscript E-Bbc M 1011 belong to this set. However, the analysis presented in this paper also demonstrates the reception in the Toccata de quinto tono of his Op. 6, a collection of Concerti Grossi published posthumously in 1714. Specifically, references to Concertos Nos. 1, 4, and 12 have been identified. This is particularly interesting, as these works are not for solo instrument with basso continuo (as those of Op. 5 are), but rather for a small orchestra, which makes their emulation in keyboard writing significantly more challenging. Therefore, the presence of this Toccata de quinto tono, clearly demonstrates that composers in the Valencian context had direct knowledge of Corelli’s compositional models, which embody certain mental patterns characteristic of the pan-European musical creation of the galant period.

Declaration of competing interest

The author of this article declares that they have no financial, professional or personal conflicts of interest that could have inappropriately influenced this work.

Funding sources

This research has been undertaken with the support of the grant ‘Tópicos, diálogos e identidades en la música española: siglos XVIII-XX’ (Ref. PID2023-151230NB-I00), funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF/EU. It forms part of the Recognized Research Group at the University of Valladolid MAEP (Música Artes Escénicas y Patrimonio).

Credit authorship

Conceptualization, data curation, investigation, methodology, visualization, writing - review & editing.

Works Cited