Ensalada
Multi-voice Spanish genre of the 16th century with a comic character and multilingual text, related to the quodlibet.
What it means
The ensalada, Spanish for “salad,” is a multi-voice secular vocal genre of the 16th century that mixes together various texts, languages, and musical styles, much like the ingredients of a salad. Within a single piece, sections in Spanish, Latin, Italian, or Catalan often alternate, frequently to comic or satirical effect.
Musical use
The ensalada became known especially through the Catalan composer Mateo Flecha the Elder, whose collection of ensaladas spread widely in the 16th century and often combined folk-like melodies, dance rhythms, and quoted melodic fragments into a dramatically lively whole. The genre served as entertainment at secular courts, readily drawing on current, sometimes coarse or comic everyday subjects.
The ensalada should be distinguished from the related quodlibet, which likewise combines different musical material but originated mainly in German-speaking regions and usually combines well-known melodies through literal quotation. It differs from the Italian madrigal comedy through its Spanish origin and an often even more pronounced linguistic layering.
Performance practice
When listening to an ensalada, follow closely the shifts between the different language sections and musical styles, since it is precisely in these transitions that the genre's comic and surprising character lies. If you perform an ensalada yourself, shape the individual sections so they are clearly set apart in sound, for instance through changes of tempo or tone color, to bring out the piece's collage-like structure.