Juan Bautista Comes

Who was Juan Bautista Comes?

Juan Bautista Comes, aka per Valencian spelling Joan Baptista Comes, was a Spanish Baroque composer who was born and died in Valencia.

It is known that before 1613 he held posts as Maestro de Capilla in Lleida at its cathedral and in Valencia at the Colegio del Patriarca. Also in Valencia, at its cathedral, from 1613 to 1619, he held a post as Maestro de Capilla. From 1619 to 1629 he was Second Maestro in Madrid at the Habsburg court, during the period when Felipe III and Felipe IV governed. Nevertheless, he returned to his old post at Valencia Cathedral in 1632, which he held until his death.

He studied under Juan Ginés Pérez.

In the field of composition he is best known for his villancicos such as Terremoto, que ruido and for his Christian sacred polychoral works. His villancicos make use of Spanish, Portuguese and Galician texts.