Tag Archives: harpsichord

ANTONIO SOLER: Fandango in D minor – Scott Ross harpsichord

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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.

 

Willem de Fesch – Sonate in G Frans Bruggen (soprano recorder), Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord)

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Willem de Fesch (1687-1761) was a Dutch composer and violone (a bass viol) virtuoso.  He worked in Asterdam, was Kapellmeister (chapel master) of Antwerp Cathedral, and played the violone in Handel’s orchestra in London.

His works include oratorios, duets, trios, solo and trio sonatas, concertos and part songs.

Frans Brüggen is a recorder virtuoso, conductor, and early music specialist.

Gustave Leonhardt is a harpsichordist, organist, conductor and early music specialist.

Here is a clip of Frans Bruggen and Gustav Leonhardt playing a sonata by Willem de Fesch.