Francesc

Francesc Valls

Francisco Valls

1671
3 de juny de 1747

Composer

Composer, Kapellmeister and music theorist. He possibly studied with Miquel Rosquelles at Santa Maria del Mar. He was Kapellmeister in Mataró and Girona and coadjutor to Joan Barter in Barcelona’s cathedral from 1696, due to the latter health issues. He was Kapellmeister of the same cathedral between 1706 to 1726, years in which he composed most of his religious music (636 works have survived). He was member of the Acadèmia dels Desconfiats. He was closely acquainted with Italian musicians such as Giuseppe Porsile (musician of the music chapel of King Carlos III), and have been considered key figures to understand the Italian influence in his music. His output includes the motet O vos omnes and the mass Missa Scala Aretina (1702, and re-instrumented for Carlos III), a piece that unleashed a long debate over Iberian religious music (1715-1730) that was backgrounded by the War of the Spanish Succession. This debate led Valls to write the treatise Mapa Harmonico (1741-1742). He was the teacher of Pere Rabassa, Jaume Casellas and probably Domènec Terradellas.