| What you'll hear at the piano project |
| Work |
Composer |
| Sonata in D Major |
Mateo Albéniz |
| Sonata in D Minor |
Sebastián Albero |
| Sonata in C Minor |
Félix Máximo López |
| Pavana |
Luis de Milán |
| Tiento |
Alonso Mudarra |
| Sonata in G major, K. 146 |
Domenico Scarlatti |
| Sonata in a minor, K. 9 |
Domenico Scarlatti |
| Sonata in G major, K. 427 |
Domenico Scarlatti |
Spanish Coat of Arms
Bibliography
Chase, Gilbert. The Music of Spain. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.,
1959.
Powell, Linton E. A History of Spanish Piano Music. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1980.
Department of European Paintings. "El Greco (Domenico Theotocopulos) (1541-1614)".
In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grec/
hd_grec.htm (October 2004).
Grove Music Online. ed. L. Macy. http://www.grovemusic.com.
Voorhies, James. "Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) and the Spanish Enlightenment".
In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/
goya/hd_goya.htm (October 2003).
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. http://en.wikipedia.org. |
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Piano
Project 2008
THE MUSIC OF SPAIN: RENAISSANCE THROUGH CLASSICAL
—Bathsheba
Marcus Conley
The beginning of the "Siglo de Oro" or Golden Age of Spain is
generally associated with the year 1492 and the discovery of the New
World. For a little under two hundred years, a span of the fifteenth
to seventeenth centuries, Spain reached a cultural height in literature,
art, and music.
From the church organists to the popular guitar player, Spain had a
varied and prolific musical scene during this period. In his book The
Music of Spain, Gilbert Chase remarks that "the spirit of the medieval
troubadours, who set their own poems to music, appears to have lingered
longer in Spain than elsewhere." The music of Renaissance Spain
was marked by simplicity and optimism, a distinct contrast to some of
the dark events, such as the Inquisition, occurring in Spain at the time.
The guitar was of primary importance to the development of secular Spanish
music and most songs written at the time were accompanied by the guitar,
and with less frequency, the lute. While the lute was used abundantly
in the Renaissance throughout the rest of Europe, in Spain the guitar
was more prominent. Some of the most well known Spanish Renaissance
composers wrote primarily for the guitar and include
Luis
Milán, Luis de
Narváez, and Alonso de Mudarra. One of the most common forms
of instrumental renaissance music in Spain was called
diferencias, a
compositional form similar to theme and variations.
The most enduring composer of keyboard music from the Renaissance period
in Spain was
Antonio
de Cabezón, who has been referred to as
a sixteenth-century Spanish Bach. Writing primarily for organ, Cabezón
is best known for his diferencias and
tientos, an imitative form that made extensive use of counterpoint.
In the Baroque era, a new form endemic to Spain developed—the zarzuela.
While Italian comic opera took precedence elsewhere in Europe, Spain
developed a unique blend of spoken and sung drama interspersed with dance
and popular song. The first zarzuela was performed in 1657 at the Palace
of La Zarzuela, the king's hunting lodge outside Madrid. The form continued
to evolve through the early nineteenth century when Italian opera became
more prominent on the Spanish musical scene.
While zarzuelas dominated the vocal music scene during the Spanish Baroque
era, it was an Italian who had the most significant influence on the
instrumental music of the time.
Domenico
Scarlatti moved to Spain in
1733. Originally from Naples, Scarlatti moved to Portugal in 1719 or
1720. None of his keyboard compositions, totaling over 500, can be dated
as being written before he was 40, indicating that most of his keyboard
sonatas were composed while he lived and worked in the Iberian peninsula.
While in Portugal, Scarlatti was appointed to tutor Princess Maria Barbara,
and when she married Ferdinand VI of Spain he moved with her to Madrid.
There is little doubt that Scarlatti was heavily influenced by the popular
songs and rhythms of Spain. The twentieth century Italian composer Francesco
Malipiero said of Scarlatti, "whoever observes his life by means of his
works must remain impressed by the influence popular Spanish music exerted
on him." As Gilbert Chase writes, "the rhythmic verve and variety of Scarlatti's
style are a continual reminder of his sojourn in a land where rhythm is
the essence of every musical impulse." In his keyboard sonatas,
Scarlatti often uses Spanish rhythms such as the jota,
a dance usually in 3/4 or 6/8 time. He also makes frequent use of the Andalusian
descending melodic line. Many melodies from the Andalusia section of Spain
revolved around the descent of the notes A-G-F-E. Finally, Scarlatti, as
with many other composers writing in the Spanish style, sometimes used
the guitar effect of arpeggiated chords.
Although Scarlatti had access to the pianoforte, he, like most baroque composers,
preferred the harpsichord. The early piano lacked the clarity and resonance of
the later instrument. While the piano was used in Spain as early as 1740, organs
and harpsichords were more readily available in churches and the royal court.
Works written for harpsichord were generally noted as obras para clave,
or obras para clavicordio. Scarlatti's keyboard writing is marked by virtuosic
figuration, fast arpeggio passages, large leaps, and, perhaps most notably, hand
crossings.
Scarlatti's influence was felt on Spanish music for years to come. As Linton
Powell writes in A History of Spanish Piano Music, "few Spanish keyboard
composers after him have escaped his influence." Scarlatti can most directly
be connected to the next generation of Spanish composers through the works of Padre
Antonio Soler. Born in 1729 in the Catalan town of Olot de Porrera, Soler
was an organist, choirmaster, and composer. He entered the monastery in 1752
and became a monk. It is likely that Soler studied with Scarlatti from 1752-1757
and when Scarlatti died he took over as the keyboard teacher to the royal family. |
|
The cover of Luis de Milán's El Maestro, a collection of printed
music for the guitar-like vihuela
The Spanish folk dance known as the fandango, depicted by French painter Pierre
Chasselat
Princess Maria Barbara was a student of Domenico Scarlatti.
Soler was the most prolific composer in Spain during his lifetime. Like Scarlatti,
Soler wrote a number of sonatas for keyboard instruments. While similar to Scarlatti
in form—the sonatas of both composers were generally one movement works
written in two parts, or binary form—Soler increasingly pushed the harmonic
envelope, writing works which modulated into new keys more adventurously than
the works of Scarlatti. It is likely, however, that Soler, unlike his predecessor,
did write with the piano in mind.
Another important figure in Spain during the classical era was Luigi
Boccherini, an Italian who like Scarlatti worked for many years in Spain.
He lived for 30-35 years in the country, and his hearing of Spanish guitarist
Padre Basilio playing fandangos on
the guitar inspired some of his compositions. Among Boccherini's works are a
Spanish ballet and a zarzuela.
After the Golden Age of the Renaissance and the prolific years of the Baroque
era, music encountered a period of decline in Spain during the Classical period.
The invasion of Spain by Napoleon led to tumultuous years marked by great change. |
