Premiered on December 17, 1972 by the Unión Artística Musical de Ontinyent, and performed again at popular request given the success obtained at its premiere, on January 14, 1973, Els Morocristians d’Ontinyent was the first symphonic work inspired by what the Moors and Christians festivals represent in themselves, that is, the arab conquest of a town and its subsequent reconquest by the christian armies.
In this poem the author took as a literary argument the reconquest of the town of Ontinyent by the three christian armies that had it under siege:
“In the work two well-differentiated parts can be seen: in the first one different aspects of the arab occupation of Ontinyent are observed, introducing the main theme after a brief prologue by the oboe, the english horn, this being answered by a dialogue between the oboe and the bassoon. It represents the doubts of the arab sheikh before the imminent christian pressure. The initial theme given by the horn recurs throughout the work. Gradually, a climate of tension is created, expressed by a crescendo that is broken, within the popular festivities, by two dances: the first of these is the dance of the swords that takes place within a lively, joyful, festive atmosphere, to end, with the initial theme in the background, in the dance of the slaves.
The theme now developed is a paraphrase of the initial one, concluding with the warning calls or blasts of the trumpets of the christian army camped around the town, in which the arab concern for the upcoming battle can be observed.
These calls from the trumpets give way to the second part of the poem, which begins with the slogans of the three armies that, according to history, reconquered Ontinyent. Similar brass sounds in different pitches and timbres alternate in their calls for advance towards the town, leading to a fierce battle, the harshness of which is suggested by the dry rhythm of the bass, interrupted momentarily, as if it were a ceasefire, by the new song of the english horn, recalling the initial and main melody of the poem, to return to the fight with a repetition of what was previously stated. Progressively, a pianissimo is reached that links with the three fragmented hymns of the town that, associated with the ringing of bells, celebrate the christian reconquest of the fortress, concluding the poem with some characteristic fragments of the previous hymns.
