Since then, it is rare to encounter a music ensemble specialising in Spanish early music that has not performed any of these ensaladas: El Jubilate, La Negrina, La Justa, La Guerra, El Fuego and La Bomba. The article is about these and other works that have subsequently been revived, and a composer whose biography still contains many gaps to fill.

The 400th anniversary of Monteverdi’s Orfeo cannot be overlooked and Uri Golomb’s article reveals some of the keys to this work and its meaning. According to Golomb: “The story of Orpheus is the ultimate test for any musician’s skill. By choosing to set this myth to music, composers declare themselves capable of creating music that would credibly seem to melt the hearts of beasts, humans and gods. They also reveal which style of musical writing is best suited, in their view, for expressing the most intense emotions”. The creative process, the convulsions and musical polemics that surrounded Orfeo reflect a complex world, full of meanings.

Zak Ozmo’s essay about the magical power of music also looks at meaning in music. What is it that attracts us to the music of the Renaissance and baroque periods? What makes our soul echo with the sounds of that distant past and relates us to a society separated by such a thick and often so impenetrable curtain of time? The answer could lie in the universal mechanisms of human expression, the collective wisdom of centuries gone by, which was often labelled as magic, and those who possessed it as magicians.

Finally, our feature interview is with the leaders of one of the most important groups formed in Spain in recent years. Ventura Rico and Pedro Gandía, the founder and artistic director of the Seville Baroque Orchestra, reveal the keys to the functioning of this prestigious ensemble, destined to be a reference in European music.