Audio tour Inglés

Cayetano Brunetti
1744-1798

Cayetano Brunetti was a virtuoso violinist and prestigious composer who was born in Fano (Italy) in 1744 and died in Colmenar de Oreja in 1798. At the age of 14, he arrived in Madrid with his father. In 1762, he worked in the public theaters of Madrid, where he played his instrument and composed music for various comedies and zarzuelas. In 1767, he joined as a violinist in the Royal Chapel of Carlos III, and in 1771, he was appointed violin master to the Prince of Asturias, future Carlos IV. Once ascended to the throne in 1789, Carlos IV confirmed him as a musician of his Royal Chamber and, from 1796, appointed him Director of the music of that institution.

Brunetti also served the great noble houses of the time, such as those of Alba, Osuna, and Benavente. He composed, for example, music for Doña María Teresa de Silva, the famous Duchess of Alba portrayed by Goya, and for Manuel Godoy. As a composer, he left a large amount of music, both instrumental (sonatas, quartets, symphonies, dances, etc.) and vocal (masses, lamentations, arias, zarzuelas, etc.). Although a certain number of them have been lost, more than 350 of his works have reached us.

Despite being one of the most important Spanish composers of the second half of the 18th century – if not the most important – his figure practically fell into oblivion until just a few years ago, when researchers and musicians found in Brunetti a whole world to explore and make known.

Cayetano Brunetti's Relationship with Colmenar de Oreja

It began upon his arrival in Madrid in 1758 or early 1759. On November 27, 1762, at the age of just 18, he married Saturnina de Soria, a native of Colmenar de Oreja, daughter of the tundidor Miguel de Soria, with whom he had four children: Juan (ca. 1765-1784), Francisco (ca. 1765-1834), Manuel Isaac (1779-1789), and Luisa (1781-1832). Of all of them, only Luisa survived marriage - a cherished singer who married the violinist of the Royal Chapel Francisco Vaccari - and Francisco Brunetti, who married the also native of Colmenar de Oreja Petronila Pascasia del Río in 1786. Francisco was a celebrated virtuoso cellist in the first third of the 19th century and an important musical figure in the Royal Palace with Carlos IV and, to a lesser extent, with Fernando VII.

In 1772, shortly after being appointed musician to the Prince of Asturias, Cayetano Brunetti acquired a house in Colmenar de Oreja, located on Calle Oscurilla (now Calle de Tomás Torresano), which he renovated and expanded, and which came to have an additional door leading to Calle de las Ramas (now Calle de Francisco de Pablos). Cayetano Brunetti often visited Colmenar de Oreja, either to retire and regain his health or to manage various matters and businesses related to his possessions in this town.

Brunetti's Final Years

The year 1798 began in the worst possible way for Cayetano Brunetti. His grandson "Juanito" died on January 2 at the young age of eight. Barely two months later, on March 27, his wife Saturnina de Soria passed away, with whom Brunetti had lived for over thirty-five years. The memorial Brunetti wrote to the king from Colmenar de Oreja in his last months of life was heartbreaking. In it, he expressed his loneliness, the sorrow caused by the constant memory of his deceased wife, the despair he felt, and his deteriorating health.

In November 1798, already ill, Cayetano married for the second time to Juana del Río, a distant cousin of his wife Saturnina and sister of Petronila Pascasia del Río, his son's wife. With this, he ensured a lifelong widow's pension for his new wife, who had been assisting him in his illness.

The town's attending physician, José Antón y Sánchez, noted in his report dated November 4, 1798, the severity of his illness – "pulmonary condition," according to his diagnosis – and the "imminent risk of losing his life." Indeed, he passed away at his home in Colmenar de Oreja on December 16, 1798, and was buried the following day in the chapel of Our Lady of Mercy (now called the Christ of Forgiveness) of the parish church of Santa María La Mayor in Colmenar de Oreja. In his will, he requested masses to be celebrated for his soul in the hermitage of the Holy Christ of Humility