Juan Francés de Iribarren

Juan Francés de Iribarren (baptised in Sangüesa on 24 March 1699 and died in Málaga on 2 September 1767) was one of the most prolific Spanish composers of the late Baroque and probably the greatest cultivator of the villancico in the eighteenth century. His output is central to understanding the religious music of Spanish cathedrals of the period.

He began his training as a boy chorister at the Colegio de Cantorcicos in Madrid, where he received lessons from Joseph de Torres. In 1717, this master proposed him as successor to Francisco Navarro as organist of the cathedral of Salamanca, a post he held for sixteen years and for which he composed pieces to mark the consecration of the new cathedral building in August 1733. A few months later, on 1 October 1733, he became maestro de capilla of the cathedral of Málaga, where he remained until his retirement due to illness on 16 April 1766. It is recorded that he turned down an offer from the cathedral of Valladolid in 1741.

In terms of style, he rarely employed the polychoral technique. His figured basses are very detailed, somewhat unusual in Spanish Baroque music, and in some cases are written out in full, which allows us to see how they were realised in practice. He used the violin and oboe with fluency, instruments with little tradition in Spanish cathedrals, making the most of much of their potential.

His legacy is extensive: more than 800 pieces appear in the first inventory of the Málaga cathedral archive, which he himself organised in 1737. His collection of villancicos, dated in its entirety between 1722 and 1766, is an indispensable case study for following the evolution of the genre in the eighteenth century.