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5 and 6 part Fantasies of William Lawes
Ancient Mosaic with Guitar
The guitar has given me the opportunity to immerse myself in the works of great and hi...
The guitar has given me the opportunity to immerse myself in the works of great and historical composers such as those recorded in Ancient Mosaic with Guitar. I consider it a privilege to be able to receive through thei...
The guitar is related to the repertoire of the lute and the vihuela as the piano is to the harpsichord or organ. This magical instrument, as Stravinsky said (referring to Andrés Segovia's guitar) "sounds little, but goes far".The guitar has given me the opportunity to immerse myself in the works of great and historical composers such as those recorded in Ancient Mosaic with Guitar. I consider it a privilege to be able to receive through their scores, the sensitivity of such maestros.
The works of Reusner, Milan, Roncalli, etc, sound good on the modern Spanish guitar, a direct descendant of all those old instruments for which they were written. I just had to play them freely and with respect, feeling them as part of the guitar and without trying to make them sound as anything other than what they intrinsically are. The recording of Ancient Mosaic with Guitar was made several times over the last few years. I never consciously set out to make an album like this, I was simply interested in a particular piece, and so studied and recorded it. Finally, I found I had enough stylistically homogenous material to produce an album.
Two musical friends participated: the soprano Palmira Irisarri, who sings on tracks 3, 5, 7, 10, 13 and 15, and the percussionist Ángel Martín, who plays on track 16. My thanks to both of them.
It was very gratifying for me to work with Palmira Irisarri, an excellent soprano and musicologist. Her singing is distinguished by her sweet, natural timbre and the perfect tuning of her voice. No doubt her style is perfectly suited for these Spanish Renaissance pieces, so often interpreted with later centuries' approaches.
Track 16, "Improvisation about Quand voie", deserves a separate paragraph. It is not an old piece, but is based on a familiar melody in the repertoire of the troubadours "Quand voie la flor nouvelle", anonymous. This is a recreation of the original, but with a completely modern interpretation, adding parts of my own composition.
Esteban Canyar
Show more Show lessBach Goldberg Variations
Les Baricades Misterieuses
The French harpsichord school of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is known as Les Clavecinistes. They flourished and achieved a refinement of keyboard writing which was constantly admired and often imitated outside their home country. The French Clavecinistes flourished at the royal court and the aristocratic salons of Paris. This recording will take you on a journey among the different generations and styles of French harpsichordists and composers.
Show more Show lessBaroque Lute Duets
Baroque Trumpetissimo
Boismortier (Harpsichord music)
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier was born in 1689 in the Age of Enlightenment, a period of enormous optimism. By 1724 he had begun to self publish, and he achieved great financial success without having to rely on the largess of patrons. His music is elegant, witty and charming - but m...
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier was born in 1689 in the Age of Enlightenment, a period of enormous optimism. By 1724 he had begun to self publish, and he achieved great financial success without having to rely on the largess of patrons. His music is elegant, witty and charming - but mostly written for players of modest technical ability, his amateur customers. Nonetheless, his near contemporary, Jean-Benjamin La Bord...
Boismortier: Harpsichord musicJoseph Bodin de Boismortier was born in 1689 in the Age of Enlightenment, a period of enormous optimism. By 1724 he had begun to self publish, and he achieved great financial success without having to rely on the largess of patrons. His music is elegant, witty and charming - but mostly written for players of modest technical ability, his amateur customers. Nonetheless, his near contemporary, Jean-Benjamin La Borde, wrote of his work in 1780 that "whoever takes the trouble to search through this abandoned mine will find enough bits of gold to make an ingot."
The four suites on this album are the only works for solo harpsichord in Boismortier's huge output. The music fits the instrument so beautifully that it surely counts among the gold. Each movement bears a feminine title, many of which call to mind specific ladies in the composer's circle. La Choquante, for example, is the one who loves to shock!
The album ends with five keyboard transcriptions from the last scene of Boismortier's ballet-comique, Don Quichotte [chez la Duchesse] of 1743. Drawing on example of his close contemporary, Jean-Phillip Rameau, the artist has arranged the aird and dances of the final scene. In keeping with the French craze for things exotic - and having nothing at all to do with Cervantes' story - a contingent of Japanese people arrives, singing "Vole, Amour, regne sur nos ames!" - Fly, Love, reign in our hearts!
Show more Show lessBringing Light to the Darkness
Buxtehude - Suites and Variations
This selection from his keyboard works show him to have been a lively, tuneful character, and Bach, who...
Dietrich Buxtehude was the greatest musician in north Germany before J.S.Bach, who, being at that stage young and without many resources, took leave from his first organist post and walked for several days to stay and study with him in Lubeck. Buxtehude was justly famous as a virtuoso organist, composer, concert-organiser, and harpsichordist.This selection from his keyboard works show him to have been a lively, tuneful character, and Bach, who was not known for his patience, was eventually reprimanded by his employers for staying in Lubeck long after his leave of absence had expired. Buxtehude's best-known harpsichord work closes this album: the 32 variations "La Capriciosa" were undoubtedly an inspiration and challenge for Bach, who was to "cap" them with his own "Goldberg Variations.
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