Francisco Courcelle may not rank as a big-name composer. But his Misa Ave Maris Stella, a dramatic chorus-and-orchestra work from 1750, has become a go-to piece for Dallas’ Orchestra of New Spain....
The hole in the history books made no sense. Spanish music had flourished during the Renaissance, when composers created rich choral music for churches and stately dances for royal courts. But the music world acted as if Spanish composers had practically vanished during the baroque period: Germans, Italians, Frenchmen and Britons got nearly all the attention....
