Soler, A.: Sonatas For Harpsichord, Vol. 10

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Cat No: 8557137

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Release Date: 10 January 2003

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313213726

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: SOLER, A.

Description
Antonio Soler (1729-1783)Sonatas for Harpsichord, Volume 10Owing mainly to the tireless efforts of the late FatherSamuel Rubio and other editors in making many of his works available in printduring the past forty years, Antonio Soler is now justly regarded as the mostimportant composer active in Spain during the second half of the eighteenthcentury. He was born at Olot, in the province of Gerona in north-eastern Spainin 1729 and baptised on 3rd December. At the age of six he entered the famouschoir school at the Monastery of Montserrat where he studied organ andcomposition. Before that he probably received some tuition from his father, whowas a regimental bandsman. In 1744 he was appointed organist at the cathedralin Seo de Urgel and was later ordained as subdeacon there.At that time the Bishop of Urgel asked him if he knew of aboy who could play the organ and who wished to take holy orders at theEscorial. Soler volunteered himself, saying that he very much wanted to takethe vows and retreat from the world, and so on 25th September 1752 he became a monkand entered that famous monastery near Madrid, built by Philip II. He alsobecame master of the Chapel there, probably in 1757 following the death of hispredecessor, Gabriel de Moratilla. Soler remained there until his death in1783.During the years 1752 to 1757 Soler is reputed to havestudied composition with Domenico Scarlatti and many of Soler's sonatas showhis influence to a marked degree both in form and musical language. Despite hisprobable debt to Scarlatti, however, Soler's own personality is very much inevidence in these works. Many of these sonatas, like Scarlatti's, are singlemovements in binary form, that is, in two sections, each of which is repeated,although Soler also composed a large number of multi-movement sonatas. It isquite possible that he was one of the copyists of some of the manuscriptvolumes of Scarlatti's sonatas, now housed in Venice and Parma.Fortunately for posterity Soler's wish for a quiet life didnot work out quite as he intended. Apart from his monastic duties he wasexpected to train the choir, provide choral music for services, and provide theRoyal family with secular and instrumental music during their frequent visitsto the Escorial. The Spanish court regularly spent the autumn there. Soler'sachievement is also astonishing when considering that much of his day wouldhave been taken up with prayer and the routine of the community. Periods ofillness often prevented him from working. We learn from the anonymous obituaryof Soler, written by a fellow monk on the day he died, that he survived on onlyfour hours' sleep most nights, often retiring at midnight or one o'clock in themorning before rising at four or five o'clock to say Mass. Mention is also madeof his religious devotion, compassionate nature, scholarly interests andexcessive candour. Soler died at the Escorial on 20th December, 1783, from agradually worsening fever which he had caught the previous month. Soler's
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