The Dancing character and its absorption in the Solerian Harpsichord repertoire

Abstract

Padre Antonio Soler, like his compatriots and contemporaries, was inspired by the national dances, bringing their stylized elements into his works. In his sonatas for keyboard instruments, we find certain rhythmic aspects recalling the character of certain folk dances, but in a very nuanced way. Soler’s approach of the folk sound frame is an element that we find more in his one-part sonatas while within the multi-parted sonatas, his musical discourse shows a more certain approach to the classical typology of the musical language, which creates a more elastic framework, more suitable for the adoption of classical expressions. In the sonatas of volume 6, constructed in several sections, the references to dances or Iberian dance typologies are much less obvious. We have discovered in Soler tunes of flamenco type of Moorish origin, or the thrill of castanets, or the guitar chords that constitute the dynamic accompaniment of the Spanish dances.