Sebastián Durón (19 April (baptized) 1660 – 3 August 1716) was a Spanish composer.

Life and career

Sebastián Durón Picazo was, with Antonio de Literes, the greatest Spanish composer of stage music of his time. He was born in Brihuega, Guadalajara, Spain, and was taught by his brother Diego Durón, also a composer. Sebastián served as organist and choirmaster at various cathedrals (Seville, Cuenca, El Burgo de Osma, Plasencia) until in 1691, when he was appointed organist of the Royal Chapel of King Charles II in Madrid. The new king King Philip V appointed him chapel master of this institution in 1701. He remained in this position until 1706, when he was suspended because of expressing support for Archduke Charles of Austria during the War of Spanish Succession, which ended with the victory of Bourbon King Philip V. Durón was forced into exile in France. In 1715 he was appointed chaplain to the exiled queen Mariana of Neuburg, the widow of Charles II, in Bayonne. He died in 1716 of tuberculosis at Cambo-les-Bains, Aquitaine, France. Although Durón composed many sacred pieces, and these and his villancicos were taken to the New World, his main influence was in the zarzuela. Father Benito Jerónimo Feijoo (1676–1764) criticised Durón, compared to Literes, for the worldliness of his compositions.

Stage works

Selected discography