Classical Music | Guitar Music

Recorded on 11/23/2005, uploaded on 03/24/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

From Instrucción de música sobre guitarra española               Gaspar Sanz

La miñona de Cataluña; Folías; Danza de las hachas; Clarín de los mosqueteros; Villanos; La Esfachata de Nápoles; Lantururú; Canarios

Gaspar Sanz's Instruccion, published in 1674, was the first guitar book published in Spain in the 17th century. The work of this Aragonese musician not only dominated the Spanish scene of baroque guitar but also influenced music throughout the 18th century by the number of editions published and the quality of the music.

Today's selections will be played on a Baroque guitar. There are three primary tunings for this kind of guitar depending on the period, nationality and composer. Each of these tunings had treble strings a d' g b e'. The alternatives come about depending on which, if either, of string 5 and string 4 were paired with bass strings called bourdons. Sanz said that bourdons were usual in Spain, although he himself did not use them. Thus, Sanz's own tuning was aa d'd' gg bb e'. The lowest note is the g given by the open 3rd string.

In some of the pieces of the Instruccion, we find the influence of Spanish folk music. Joaquín Rodrigo later used some of the pieces in order to write his Fantasía para un gentilhombre.    Rafael Serrallet

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.