Research

The first modern critical edition of Muerte en amor es la ausencia, a three-act comedia composed by Sebastián Durón to a libretto by Antonio de Zamora and premiered in 1697 for the court of Carlos II. The study places the work within seventeenth-century Spanish theatre music and the Royal Chapel of Madrid, traces Durón’s career, and addresses the questions of historically informed performance it raises.

The edition reconstructs the Sinfonía, of which only the basso continuo survives, resolves the challenges of the mensural notation, and presents the complete libretto alongside a critical apparatus documenting the textual variants across the sources.

The harpsichord held a dominant position at the end of the seventeenth century — an instrument, in C.P.E. Bach’s words, “entrusted with full command” and placed “to assist the entire ensemble in maintaining a uniform pace”. This research examines the ensemble-leadership practices of harpsichordists, drawing on historical documentation of how basso continuo realisation shaped ensemble performance and on non-verbal means of direction such as gesture.