What's New at the Antonio Soler Home Page?
This note is to help users locate new material, from amongst the general clutter, at the Soler Home Page. I will update it as appropriate.
9 July 2007 - Corrections to Concertos for Two Keyboards I and II. Thanks to Jan Mannee.
2 July 2007 - Corrections to the Fandango and Sonata 117. Thanks to Jory Vinikour.
21 Dec. 2006 - All 120 sonatas from the Rubio edition and the Fandango are now available as sheet music, .mp3's, and as MIDI files. Next will be the six concertos for two keyboards.
I am thinking about making the entire collection of 120 sonatas plus Fandango available on CD priced at $35.00; if you have any interest please send me an email.
7 Nov. 2005 - Completely revamped the website. No frameless version anymore. Began adding .mp3 audio files and sheet music. Eventually will have all available sonatas online.
14 Oct., 2005 - After a long period of benign neglect, I will be updating the Soler website to a less clumsy format in the coming months. Sometime in the next three months I will begin web publishing of a complete edition of all of Soler's harpsichord sonatas as well as the concerti for two keyboards. These will be provided in Adobe Acrobat format, and I will place them in the public domain.
March 14, 1999 - Mind Spring, having bought Sprynet, proceeded to break the filenames for all the Sprynet web pages. These are now fixed at the Soler Home Page. I apologize for any inconvenience. Please email me with any overlooked missing files.
August 16, 1998 - Sonata 62 in B flat. This is the first of the multi-movement sonatas, file size 79kb.
March 28, 1998 - Sonata 104 in D minor
February 27, 1998 - Sonata 52 in E minor
November 24, 1997 - Sonata 88 in D Flat
October 5, 1997 - Sonata 72 in F minor
September 7, 1997 - Sonata 7 in C
August 24, 1997 - Sonata 34 in E. Sonata 84 resequenced.
July 14, 1997 - Sonata 25 in D Minor
June 23, 1997 - Sonata 57 in D Minor
June 17, 1997 - Sonata 43 in G
June 16, 1997 - Removed incorrect concordance between Marvin M.29 and Rubio 54. Note that any changes are reflected in all affected documents.
June 8, 1997 - Added graphic title page from Llave de la Modulacion and jpeg images of the rarely seen Preludes from the same work. They are suitable for playing when unzipped and printed. These are in the "At This Site" frame in a zipped file , which most browsers will download when you click on the link, or here. Also added more information on the origin of the Fandango.
June 6, 1997 - Rondo 59 in F
May 30. 1997 - Sonata 45 in G
May 24, 1997 - Sonata 17 in E Flat
May 10, 1997 - Resequenced and added repeats to Sonata 103.
May 7, 1997 - Added Sonata 116 and stereo WAV file using german8 soundbank on SoundBlaster AWE32 sound card (the combination used in creating all of the MIDI files at this site).
May 5, 1997 - Thanks to Derek Yee for corrections to the concordances concerning Marvin numbers 38 and 42. Marvin 38 does not actually appear in the Rubio edition. Also, Marvin 42 was incorrectly listed as concordant to Rubio 42. See the Errata for details. The relevant concordances and Acrobat PDF files have been corrected.
April 26, 1997 - Updated discography, both HTML and Acrobat PDF versions, to reflect new CD's of Soler harpsichord music.
Naxos has released Volumes 1-10 of the complete harpsichord sonatas performed by Gilbert Rowland, and it shows the same excellence as the first volume. For those Soler addicts who have Bob Van Asperen's venerable set, Rowland offers a somewhat more "modern" point of view on the sonatas, eschewing to a greater or lesser degree the occasionally tiring use of notes inégales and other "historically informed" techniques. I certainly am not demeaning VanAsperen's magnum opus, but variety is the spice in the stew. Some will perhaps decry the rather straightforward presentation by Rowland. Others, like myself, will welcome it as a chance to refine their critical apparatus. The choice of sonatas is refreshing, presenting works that have received little play time in other releases. Let's face it - how many versions of the Fandango and Sonata 84 do we need, when there are so many other gems languishing just off-stage? Let us hope that Rowland will persevere in this formidable project. Total Playing Time: 78'13".
I've also added listings of the available CD's of the Concertos for Two Keyboards, which seem to be gaining in popularity, and rightfully so. Soler had a particular gift for the two-instrument genre, as evidenced in these unusual works. Though the earliest versions of manuscripts imply the combination of two organs, it is doubtful that this was Soler's actual intent - the only place in the Escorial that had two organs was a large cathedral, with the two organs located at opposite ends. Imagine trying to stay together while playing in a huge cathedral space, with echoes reverberating from all directions! The players would have needed telescopes and walkie-talkies to pull off a performance.
The three CD's listed present an intriguing variety of approaches, particularly as to choice of instruments. Combinations of harpsichords, fortepianos, and organs are heard, ranging widely in tonal characteristics that show off the striking dissimilarities in keyboard instruments available at the time these pieces were composed. For sheer exuberance and joie de jouer, the versions by Kenneth Gilbert and Trevor Pinnock can't be beat. For a much less mainstream treatment, try the ones by Brauchli and Elizondo, played on some rather quaint and delightfully idiosyncratic keyboards. Refer to the Soler discography for details. By the way, the (re-issued) Gilbert / Pinnock CD liner notes are the source of the Soler / Sor "mistaken identity."
April 5, 1997 - Added Adobe Acrobat PDF versions of the concordance, bibliography, discography, etc.
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