Do You Know the Ensaladas of Mateo Flecha “el Viejo”?

 Composer and chapel master at Valencia Cathedral in 16th-century Spain, Mateo Flecha “el Viejo” (meaning “the elder”) was also the master of the ensalada—a secular vocal composition in the form of a medley, blending songs and dialogues. Musicologist Maricarmen Gómez tells us the story of this composer, as the Spanish ensemble Cantoría brings ensaladas back to life in a series of concerts across Europe.

Who was Mateo Flecha “el Viejo”?

A worthy successor to Juan del Encina (poet, composer, and the first major playwright in Spanish theatrical history) Mateo Flecha (c. 1481–1553?) belongs to the small circle of Spanish Renaissance composers known primarily for their works in the vernacular, rather than for their Latin sacred music, despite his status as a cleric. His career remains relatively obscure until his appointment in 1526 as chapel master at Valencia Cathedral, at the very moment when the Dukes of Calabria, Ferdinand of Aragon and Germaine de Foix (widow of Ferdinand the Catholic), settled in the city as viceroys of the kingdom.

In Renaissance Spain, it was common for chapel masters and other church musicians to compose villancicos outside the liturgical repertoire. These songs, both sacred and secular, were immensely popular and followed models inherited from the Franco-Flemish school, often marked by medieval-style homophony. Flecha was no exception. The first works attributed to him are eight secular villancicos, some with a picaresque tone, others for Christmas, all notable for having both text and music composed by Flecha himself—a tradition that would virtually disappear with him.

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