Carles Quilmetes (1775-1834) - Sinfonia 1a (1804)
Performers: Música Antiga de Girona; Albert Bosch (conductor)
Further info: Música Antiga de Girona
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Spanish violinist, double bassist, and composer. After receiving his
studies in composition in Barcelona, he was appointed as a violinist at
Girona Cathedral, where his tenure spanned more than forty years.
Notably, he was the first lay musician to secure a permanent position
within the cathedral's musical chapel (capella de música), frequently
performing on both the violin and the double bass. His career was
severely disrupted in 1809 by the Siege of Girona during the Peninsular
War. As liturgical music was marginalized, lay musicians faced acute
financial hardship due to the chapter's inability to provide regular
stipends. Following the French occupation, he petitioned for readmission
in 1811; initially granted only charitable alms, he was formally
reinstated in December of that year under a severely diminished annual
salary of twenty pounds. Upon his retirement in 1826, the cathedral
chapter permitted his grandson, Carles Sipiera Quilmetes, to act as his
substitute, though the youth was denied a permanent chair owing to his
age. As a composer, he belonged to a prominent multi-generational
lineage of cathedral string players that also included his son, the
priest and long-standing chapel violinist Josep Quilmetes. While the
vast majority of his works are lost, his surviving output is
distinguished by a three-movement work, the Symphony No.1 (1804).
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