Listening Journal



For my second entry, I chose the works for Harpsichord by Antonio Soler. Rafael Puyana is the name of the performer and within the first few minutes of listening, I knew I was going to enjoy this listening session. I was pretty convinced that I had never heard any music from Antonio Soler but the further I made it through the recording, I caught myself thinking “oh yeahh.” The track that especially hit me as being familiar was Sonata en re mayor. I am pretty sure that I have heard a guitar duet play this piece but I cannot clearly recall where I heard it, but that is a really nice piece.

This is some of the most enjoyable solo harpsichord music I have ever heard. I suppose the works are not a part of the standard Canon, which I must admit, I am trying to become familiar with that term because it has taken me long enough to spell repertoire correctly. But all jokes aside, all of these pieces are spectacular. I am in awe of the virtuosic ability of both performer and composer. Most of the pieces are at a fast tempo and incorporate quite a lot of ornamentation, but not nearly as ornate as a Francois Couperin piece from the Baroque era.

Even though there is quite a bit of ornamentation I never felt that it got in the way of the music, specifically the melody. Most of the harpsichord music that I have heard, which I admit is not much, was too heavy in ornamentation, sometimes obscuring the melody rather than carving a memorable tune. With the harpsichord works of Antonio Soler, I get just the right temperature of my porridge to feel satisfied.

The main thing that impressed and surprised me, was the illusion of dynamic variations within the pieces. One of the things I do know about the harpsichord is that it does not have much dynamic range. The illusion of dynamics is created within the pieces by the switching back and forth between heavy texture and lighter texture. Many of the segments go from notes that are close together, within the same range and little higher in register, to segments that have notes distributed all over the full range of the keyboard.

Most of the works feature a large amount of arpeggios, with one hand playing in a mid to low register the other hand joins in the higher register creating a thick texture. While listening, I began to hear that on some of the passages the notes, especially in the lower register, seemed to be muted with the melody or higher notes ringing clearly. At first, I was curious if the performer was putting his hand on the strings to mute them but I quickly removed that thought because just by listening to all the counterpoint and range that would literally demand a third or fourth limb. I began to recall that throughout the centuries different pedals have been added to the harpsichord, so I wonder if that is what I am hearing. The muted segments reminded me of the sounds of a nylon string guitar played pizzicato and with me being a guitar player, I naturally enjoyed what I heard.

I must say that Antonio Soler is now in my mental rolodex of great composers for the keyboard. These works for harpsichord are truly for the keyboard virtuoso and I cannot imagine them being played in salons or home concerts by part-time musicians. The pieces are very demanding and would definitely take the work ethic of a professional or a Shaolin monk.

The recording is comprised of Sonatas, Fandangos and a Concerto and it is around fifty minutes long and it is an enjoyable listen. Whether or not Soler was a composer that had works that were a part of the standard Canon, I feel that these works for harpsichord should be a prime candidate.