Robert Parkins (harpsichord) Early Spanish Keyboard Music

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*_Liner notes by Robert Parkins 1/2_* The early keyboard music of the Iberian peninsula is part of a tradition whose "golden age' began with Antonio de Cabezón in the 16th century and ended with Juan Cabanilles soon after the turn of the 18th. A group of organist-composers who flourished during the first half of the 17th century became an important link between these two masters. Among the more notable members of this generation was Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia. Although the period extending from the birth of Cabezón (1510) to the death of Cabanilles (1712) is more than two centuries, its keyboard literature is characterized by a remarkable continuity and conservatism, relatively unaffected by the musical currents pervading the rest of continental Europe. Often dark and austere, its roots in the modal counterpoint of the Renaissance, early Spanish keyboard music increasingly reflects the geographical and political isolation of Spain receding from its former status as a powerful empire. Other than pieces designated specifically for liturgical use, most of the keyboard works of these composers belong to two broad genres: variation forms and tientos. By the time the first Spanish music appeared in print (during Cabezón's lifetime), variation technique had already reached a distinctive level of development. Composers for keyboard and vihuela excelled in writing variations on folksongs and dance tunes. The early tiento, a Spanish counterpart of the Italian ricercare, reflected its origin as a decorated transcription (intabulation) of polyphonic vocal music, and reliance on four-part contrapuntal technique still generated the later tientos of Cabanilles's time. Even though some of the music is playable only on the organ, much of it is virtually interchangeable, and many of the pieces are more successfully performed on stringed keyboard instruments. It is not unusual, in fact, to read the inscription "for keyboard, harp, and vihuela" on the title page of a volume ostensibly intended for the keyboard. The clavichord seems to have been the favoured practice instrument of the Spanish organists (if for no other reason than the fact that it was by far the least costly keyboard instrument). We know that the harpsichord was used in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries, and there is evidence that native builders produced some of them. But of the instruments themselves and their prevalence outside the domain of royalty or nobility we know virtually nothing. Most of the harpsichords that infiltrated European musical life before the 18th century were exported from Italy and the Lowlands, both of which had been at least partly dominated by Spain. Certainly many of these instruments were imported by the Spanish, and some of them even found their way into the Spanish colonies in the New World. The Italian harpsichords, brilliant and penetrating, were very effective as ensemble instruments. The Flemish harpsichords, on the other hand, had a more sustained tone and greater clarity in contrapuntal textures. It is quite likely that the Spaniards were familiar with both types, but the Flemish instruments are in many ways preferable for the performance of the tientos as well as the variations of Cabezón and his successors. Antonio de Cabezón (1510- 1566), blind from early childhood, was doubtless the greatest of the Spanish organ masters. Among the first rank of keyboardists and composers in the 16th century, Cabezón secured an appointment as organist to Queen Isabella while still quite young (in 1526). He later served Prince Philip (the future Philip II) and accompanied him on his travels to Italy, Germany, England, and the Netherlands, where he came into contact with other prominent musicians of the day. Cabezón remained in the employ of the Spanish court until his death.

[@Eloybb1]

thank you

[@vaslav4171]

Que belleza de escuchar musica modal a diferencia de hoy que todo es tonal .

[@andreauribe6454]

A menos que sea satie que comenzo a armonizar las escalas modales todo lo contrario a los wagneriano de la epoca.

[@hdibart]

Thanks so much for your work.

[@HarpsichordVinylGallery]

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

[@ChildfreeMatto]

HVG, thank you for another spectacular video. 😊 I'm not overly familiar with early Spanish keyboard music, but still a treat nonetheless.

[@HarpsichordVinylGallery]

Thanks for the comment. There is not that much early Spanish music in sources suitable for the harpsichord, but if you like the technique of variations, you will enjoy it. Chronologically and musically, it could not be farther away from the previous Mozart recording.

[@ChildfreeMatto]

@@HarpsichordVinylGalleryThat is a shame there isn't many resources concerning this type music. It was wonderful hearing this during the early morning. Actually, all the videos you publish are. Especially, since these recordings aren't just readily available.

[@HarpsichordVinylGallery]

@@ChildfreeMatto Yes, that is the main reason to publish these vinyl recordings, to preserve them before they slip into oblivion. There is hardly a market for record companies to publish them into digital mediums, but artistically they are all worth full exposure. Personally, I also like the graphics of the old LPs and in the area 1960-1980 there were many experiments with different instruments, recording techniques and newly discovered repertoire. For me, it is often a new discovery too when borrowing these old recordings from some friends. Five days ago, I never heard of this recording coming from the US market.

[@ChildfreeMatto]

@@HarpsichordVinylGallery I agree. Otherwise we all wouldn't have an opportunity to listen to these recordings. It's amazing having new discoveries to listen to. The vast majority of your videos are "new" recordings to me. I have heard of many of the performers, not necessarily the vinyl recordings. A very special listen for me as well.

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*_Liner notes by Robert Parkins 2/2_* His (de Cabezón) tiento on Crecquillon's Qui fa dira is a simple and quietly moving imitative elaboration on the original material from the chanson. This tiento (as well as the following works of Cabezón) was included among the Obras de musica para tecla, arpa y vihuela, published posthumously in 1578 by Antonio's son Hernando. As in his other short but masterly sets of variations (frequently labelled diferencias), Cabez6n's Diferencias sobre fa Pavana Italiana begins at once with the first variation, the uppermost voice bearing the familiar tune. The soprano line retains the melody, but ornamented differently, in the second diferencia of this stylized processional dance. The tune is stripped to its bare form in the third variation and remains unembellished, having moved to the tenor voice, for the fourth and fifth variations. Tiento I in the second mode (no. 57 in Kastner's edition) is without a doubt a mature composition of Cabezón, beginning typically with a subject in long notes, as in a polyphonic motet. Toward the end of the piece, a second subject makes its entry, whereupon the initial theme disappears completely. Cabezón's Diferencias sobre la Gallarda Milanesa is a set of but two connected variations on the binary Milanese Galliard, a livelier dance than the stately pavane. Here the tune remains in the top voice throughout, sometimes in simple form and at other times richly embellished. Hernando de Cabezón's original edition can only be described as cryptic in its indications for the performance of these variations, but a reprise of the opening measures with a minor cadential alteration seems a reasonable solution. Among the better-known Spanish organists appearing after Cabezón was Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia (ca. 1565-1627). Probably born in Saragossa, Aguilera assumed the duties of organist at the cathedral of Huesca in 1585. By 1603 he was ordained to the priesthood and appointed "master organist" at La Seo in Saragossa. The Tiento in the Fourth Mode by Aguilera is characteristic of the early 17th-century tiento, continuing the contrapuntal tradition of Cabezón while incorporating new developments that presage the tientos of Cabanilles's generation. As in the 16th-century tiento, it opens imitatively with a subject in longer notes, but the movement soon quickens. This single theme pervades the entire work, retaining its melodic shape but rhythmically transformed in each of the clear-cut sections. The counterpoint is sometimes alleviated not only by stretches of more lively homophonic writing, but also by occasional flights of figuration. In the first section we also encounter an arresting but idiosyncratic rhythm in 17th-century Iberian keyboard music: a measure of eighth notes subdivided into 3 + 3 + 2. Like Aguilera, Juan Bautista Jose Cabanilles (1644-1712) was an ordained priest. He assumed the title of "second organist" at Valencia Cathedral in 1666. Within a year he became the "first organist," a position he would hold for the rest of his life. Perhaps the greatest of the 17th-century Spanish organist-composers, Cabanilles was the final heir to the legacy of Cabez6n. The fourth Tocata of Cabanilles does not at all resemble the German or Italian toccatas of the time. It is an odd little study in repeated notes, probably intended for the organ, but equally effective as a harpsichord piece. The word xacara (or jacara) refers to a type of vulgar comedy popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as the songs and dances associated with it. Despite the lowly origins of his subject, Cabanilles's Xacara is an artful blend of continuous variations that weave around a vague harmonic pattern which crystallizes toward the end as a simple four-note bass line. The Tiento por A fa mi re (no. 23 in the Angles edition) by Cabanilles is a prime example of the genre in its last days: mono-thematic, multipartite, and harmonically unadventurous. Basically in the key of A minor, but with vestiges of modality, it is not significantly different from tientos of Aguilera's generation. As in the Tiento de 4° tono of Aguilera, the sections are clearly delineated by changes of meter, the final one extended by a free flourish. The pieces designated as gallardas by Cabanilles are in duple meter and have little in common with the historical galliard. Gallardas I, like the Xacara, is a series of continuous variations, but more tightly constructed. Revealing a closer affinity for the idiom of the harpsichord than the somewhat more abstract tientos, Gallardas I is less comfortably transferred to other keyboard instruments. An eight-bar basso ostinato is the framework for a set of interesting and at times original elaborations in which Cabanilles proves himself the culmination of the Spanish tradition of keyboard variations. Robert Parkins

[@tomfurgas2844]

Always a red-letter day when I see a new upload to the HVG! Great to have a fine recording including Cabezon and other early Spanish masters. The cover art is pretty lame, but otherwise a fine recording.

[@HarpsichordVinylGallery]

Thanks, I have to agree about the cover. That is a weak spot of the MHS label in general as far as I know. Always in black and white and no glossy texture. As cheap as possible, but on the other hand, the documentation and music are indeed fine in my perception.