The Reception of the Galant Style in Eighteenth-Century Spanish Toccata: Corelli as a Model

Recent contributions to the study of eighteenth-century music by Daniel Heartz (2003) have shed new light on the development and dissemination of the galant style from Italy, which prevailed across Europe between 1720 and 1780. At the same time, the analytical framework based on the galant schemata identified by Robert O. Gjerdingen (2007) enables a deeper understanding of the nature of this style. The present work aims to examine the reception of the galant style in the Spanish organ toccata of the eighteenth century. Among the few surviving toccatas from this period, particular importance is attached to two collections originating from Valencia, which preserve the most extensive corpus known to date (E-Bbc M1011 and M1012). Some of these toccatas reveal, to varying degrees, the influence of Arcangelo Corelli, who, according to Heartz, played a decisive role in the incipient shaping of this new style. Alongside elements of the traditional idiom, they present a hybridization with the sonata da chiesa and da camera models as disseminated by Corelli, together with the incorporation of stylistic features characteristic of the galant style. Rodríguez’s Toccata a la ytaliana, based on Corelli’s Concerto No. 1 Op. 6, stands out for demonstrating both command of and free handling of the schemata drawn from the original model. Also notable is an anonymous toccata constructed entirely from galant schemata, whose stylistic affinities with Corelli’s music provide solid evidence that his works served as its compositional model.