Agustín Iranzo y Herrero

Agustín Iranzo y Herrero (Allaga, 1748 – Alicante, 1804) was a Spanish composer whose sacred output places him among the Valencian and Levantine musicians of the eighteenth century who sought an alternative to the Italian fashion.

He trained as a chorister at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, where he studied with Bernardo Miralles. In 1768 he unsuccessfully sought the post of maestro de capilla at the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. In 1773 he was appointed maestro de capilla of the collegiate church of Alicante, a post he held until his death in 1804.

His sacred output, of which more than a hundred pieces survive in Alicante Cathedral, includes masses, motets, lamentations and villancicos. As a theorist he firmly opposed the innovations of Eximeno, as his Defensa del arte de la música (Murcia, 1802) shows. In his own compositions, however, he abandoned the Italianate, secular style of the period in favour of a more austere language, with carefully crafted forms and a strong harmonic interest.

His music continued to be performed long after his death, which bears witness to the esteem he retained in his circle.