Antonio Soler (1729-1783)

A Catalan composer and organist.  Studied with the famous Italian harpsichordist and composer Domenico Scarlatti.  Soler is best known for his 120 keyboard sonatas.  He also wrote six quintets for organ and strings, concertos for two organs, solo works for organ, over 300 vocal works, and a treatise on modulation.

A Fandango was a courtship dance of Castille and Andalusia.  Fandangos were written in triple time and were moderately fast.  The Fandango was a popular dance in the 18th century and was used in dramatic music.  Many composers wrote fandangos.  Domenico Scarlatti, Boccherini, Rimsky-Korsakov, Albeniz, Granados, and de Falla composed Fandangos.

Scott Ross (1951-1989)

Scott Ross was an American harpsichordist.  He won first prize at a competition in Bruges in 1971.  Scott Ross was also a music teacher and taught at the University of Laval, Quebec.  He recorded music by Francois Couperin, G.F. Handel, J.S. Bach, G, Frescobaldi, d/Anglebert, and D. Scarlatti.  Scott Ross was the first to record all 555 of Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord sonatas.  He died in 1989 from Aids.

Here is a recording of a Fandango by Antonio Soler.  It is played by Scott Ross.