The music fonds of Santa Maria basilica in Castelló d’Empúries (I) contains a collection of 305 manuscripts – 209 of which are authored works and 96 anonymous – and another containing 111 printed scores. At some unknown time, the old music fonds of the basilica was broken into two parts: the one conserved at the Diocesan Archive of Girona, which is discussed in this cataloguing, and a second part – CaeSM (II) – which is currently housed at the Antoni Agramont Municipal Music School in Castelló d’Empúries.

The “authored manuscripts” collection contains compositional repertoire by the basilica’s chapel masters, including Josep Anglada i Llovet, Josep Barba i Bendad, Narcís Casademont, Ramon Godó i Dagas, Joaquim Serratosa i Dalmau, Ignasi Giralt i Lleys and Jaume Joan Lleys i Agramont (1803-1853), the master who exerted a great deal of pedagogical influence in the country and within the music scene of Girona. Lleys is considered the driving force behind what tends to be considered the 19th-century Ampurdan music school. The fonds includes 5 of his works for choir and orchestra, among others. The majority of the repertoire conserved spans from the second third of the 19th century to the first third of the 20th century. In addition to the aforementioned musicians, who served as the chapel masters or organists, also noteworthy are the multiple relations forged between the city and the musical life radiating out from the basilica as a training centre until the late 19th century via the musicians who were members of the first orchestras in Castelló d’Empúries, such as Antoni Agramont and Pau Guanter, and others who achieved renown beyond the county, such as Càndid Candi and the Frigola cousins.

The fonds conserves copies of works by the masters from Barcelona, Girona and Tarragona, as well as repertoire from the masters of Figueres, Torroella de Montgrí, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Blanes and Igualada, along with the masters of Montserrat, Benet Brell and Ramir Escofet. The popular genre is also included to a lesser extent thanks to copies of zarzuelas, sardanas and fragments of fashionable operas. With regard to printed music, the genres from the Spanish, Italian and French ecclesiastic repertoire from the late 19th and early 20th centuries predominate, along with works by M. Augé, M. Borrell, L. Brugarolas, M. de Ferrer i Manresa, D. Mas i Serracant, M. Pastó, B. C. Puig, J. Ribera, S. Ritort, L. Romeu, J. Sancho, J. M. Úbeda amd A. Vicens.¹

¹GREGORI I CIFRÉ, Josep Maria – SALGADO COBO, Elena. Inventaris del fons musicals de Catalunya. Volum 7: Fons de la Basílica de Santa Maria de Castelló d’Empúries. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2013.

Fonds Factsheet

Acronym: CaeSM

IFMuC Link: https://ifmuc.uab.cat/collection/CaeSM?ln=en

Title: Fonds of Santa Maria basilica in Castelló d’Empúries (I)

Archive and location:
Arxiu Diocesà de Girona (Diocesan Seminary's building, third floor)
Pujada de Sant Martí, 12
17004 Girona

Contact:
Tel: 972 487 346
Email: info@arxiuadg.org

Date(s): 19th to 20th centuries

Extent and medium: 17 box files

Creators:
Chapel master and organists of Santa Maria in Castelló d’Empúries

Download the complete fonds factsheet HERE

Façade of the basilica of Santa Maria de Castelló d’Empúries, cathedral of L'Empordà