José Herrando resucitado… ¿otra vez? Historia de una “recuperación”

The sonatas for violin and accompaniment by José Herrando (Valencia, ca. 1720–Madrid, 1763) have undergone various transformations since the 1920s, reflecting a process of continuous ‘re-creation’ that illustrates the latest notions of ‘musical work’. Changes in performance practice, especially the emergence of Historically Informed Perfomance since the 80s, have given rise to several waves of revival for Herrando’s music, from different perspectives. In this process, key figures of Hispanic musicology and ‘early music’ have participated, including José Subirá, Joaquín Nin, and Emilio Moreno, together with less remembered musicians, such as Josefina Salvador. This process is still ongoing, as shown by recent performances by Fabio Biondi, the finalists of the Francesco Maria Ruspoli Competition, or Concerto 1700. Herrando’s sonatas have appeared and disappeared intermittently from concert halls, musical editions, and sound recordings, without ever being consolidated in the repertoire, thus justifying new ‘resurrections’ a few years later. This case study shows that the re-premiere is a key element of early-music marketing and that the ‘recuperation’ of forgotten music has to face the pressure of a conservative canon.