Joaquina Comella, Unacknowledged Author of the Libretti for Seven «Tonadillas» by Blas de Laserna

Abstract

The starting-point of this study is the discovery of documents which identify Joaquina Comella (c. 1778-1800) as the author of seven libretti for tonadillas whose music would be composed by Blas de Laserna. The documents are requests for permission to perform seven works for three voices which were submitted in 1800. The discovery has led to the tracking down of two of the libretti, one of which, La pasiega y el hidalgo (The woman from Pas and the nobleman), is presented here in a critical edition. The ensuing research has involved the reconstruction of the textual, musical and performance possibilities of five of these works by analysing the texts in conjunction with theatre notes and musical scores. As a result we now have a considerable homogeneous body of work on which to base a study of the output of an author for whom until now only one libretto was extant; it also provides substantial evidence of Comella’s partnership with Laserna. The literary analysis which forms the complementary focus of this study highlights the quality of Joaquina Comella’s dramatic talent in the musical genre in question and aims to enrich the evaluation of the literary component of 18th-century tonadillas designed for dramatic performance.

Keywords

• joaquina comella
• blas de laserna
• siglo xviii
• tonadillas escénicas
• libretos
• licencias de representación
• la pasiega y el hidalgo