European Baroque Guitar Music (Rome-Paris-Madrid) - Bartolotti, Granata, Corbetta, de Visee, Sanz, Guerau - Pierre Pitzl

The concept behind this album is to showcase the work of best baroque guitar composers in the period when this new instrument swept across Europe and conquered it along with its kings - that is the second half of the 17 C. The composers chosen for this task are Michelangelo Bartolotti, Giovanni Battista Granata (who answer for Rome), Francesco Corbetta (an international star of Italian origin) and his pupil Robert de Visee (Paris), and Francisco Guerau with Gaspar Sanz for Madrid. 
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Joan Baptista (Juan Bautista) Comes - Lamentationes Jeremiæ Prophetæ - Victoria Musicae

Juan Bautista - or Joan Baptista in Catalan - Comes was born around 1582 in Valencia and is considered among the greatest Catalan composers. His talents were recognized beyound his province borders also and in 1618 he was appointed a vicemaestro of the royal chapel in Madrid. However, unlike many an ambitious musuician he didn't appreciate the life in the capital and hankered to return to his home town - which he eventually did. Valencia repaid for his loyalty with money and honours.
The Lamentations of Jeremiah presented here sound very much in vein of the early baroque - that transitional Monteverdi-style which seemed to linger longer in Spain than it did in Italy - and France which leapt from Renaissance polyphony almost straight to its beloved grand motet. Personally I'm very partial to it - it retains all the spirituality and therapeutic harmony of the Renaissance polyphony while being easier to understand for our major-minor trained ear.
Below the cut is the Grove dictionary article on the composer.
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