Spanish Christmas at The Met Cloisters

Sonnambula Ensemble presents a program of “Canciones” and “Villancicos” from the Cancionero Musical de Palacio.

Celebrate Christmas with a program of intimate Canciones (popular tunes with poetic texts), joyful Villancicos (songs with rustic themes), and virtuosic instrumental pieces, all drawn from the Cancionero Musical de Palacio, a manuscript found at the Royal Palace of Madrid which exemplifies the Spanish Golden Age of music.

Sonnambula Ensemble

• Camille Zamora, soprano.
• Esteban La Rotta, lute and guitar.

Sonnambula is a Renaissance ensemble that brings to light unknown music for various combinations of early instruments with the lush sound of the viol at the core. Sonnambula had its début at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s MetLiveArts series last season with a landmark performance of the complete works of Leonora Duarte (1610–1678).

Sonnambula has a strong commitment to education, and has presented interactive masterclasses, lecture / demonstrations, museum programs, and composer workshops at The Frick Collection, The Hispanic Society of America, and Princeton University, where they are working at the Princeton Sound Kitchen lab to commission new work for old instruments.

Previous concerts at the Hispanic Society of America have included premieres of 18th-century Cuban sacred works presented by the Cuban Cultural Center of New York; ¡Zarzuela!, a program of Spanish theatrical music of the high Baroque; and a program of Spanish Golden Age works drawn from the over 450 pieces in the Cancionero Musical de Palacio, a manuscript at the Royal Palace of Madrid.