"HERBANIA", EDITOR'S RECOMMENDATION - SEPTEMBER 2019 | By "El Compositor habla"

A CD of twentieth-century Spanish music released on the Ibs Classical label.

Now, in the twenty-first century, thanks to the excellent progress made in the restoration and manufacture of copies of historical instruments, as well as to the interest of composers and instrumentalists, the harpsichord is enjoying a new life, a journey through time and sound. Márquez presents a repertoire that invites us into an evocative soundworld of the second half of the twentieth century, and to rediscover an instrument that has much to say, above all in the hands of Silvia, a performer with overwhelming technical mastery and an exquisite wealth of nuance. Her talent is spectacular.

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REVIEW

EL COMPOSITOR HABLA | 02/09/2019 We open the calendar by offering our recommendation in El Compositor Habla for September 2019.

As every month in our calendar and news section in El Compositor Habla, we highlight some recent albums for our followers.
One of these is the CD "Herbania 20th-Century Spanish Music for Harpsichord" performed by the fantastic harpsichordist Silvia Márquez and released on the Granada-based label Ibs Classical. The CD has been available since June 2019, but it is only now that we have been able to listen to it, and it has fascinated us.

HERBANIA: Tomás MARCO: Herbania. Joaquín RODRIGO: Préludio et Ritornello. Joaquim HOMS: Preludi. José Luis TURINA: Due Essercizi. Joan Maria THOMÁS: Le Clavecin Voyageur. Ángel OLIVER PINA: Ofrenda a Manuel de Falla. José María SÁNCHEZ-VERDÚ: Palimpsestes II. Silvia Márquez, harpsichordist. IBS Classical 122019

Twentieth-century Spanish music written for an instrument as ancient as the harpsichord. Accustomed as we are to associating the harpsichord with baroque music, it is undoubtedly an instrument that goes further. Márquez presents here an impressive selection of pieces composed between 1952 and 1996. It is an opportunity to discover a much lesser-known part of the repertoire, but one well worth knowing.

On the one hand, there is the educational value of bringing a little-known repertoire to the wider public; on the other, the meeting of aesthetic paths between an instrument more characteristic of the music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and contemporary aesthetics is simply fascinating. It also has the added appeal of presenting several works that had not been recorded before. The album includes three first recordings, by the composers Joaquim Homs, Ángel Oliver Pina and José María Sánchez-Verdú, as well as works by the Spanish composers Tomás Marco, Joaquín Rodrigo, José Luis Turina and Joan Maria Thomàs.

It took the early twentieth century, and Wanda Landowska, who not only performed original works but also commissioned new ones (among them from the composer Manuel de Falla), for interest in the harpsichord to revive.

Now, in the twenty-first century, thanks to the excellent progress made in the restoration and manufacture of copies of historical instruments, as well as to the interest of composers and instrumentalists, the harpsichord is enjoying a new life, a journey through time and sound. Márquez presents a repertoire that invites us into an evocative soundworld of the second half of the twentieth century, and to rediscover an instrument that has much to say, above all in the hands of Silvia, a performer with overwhelming technical mastery and an exquisite wealth of nuance. Her talent is spectacular.

More information at IBS Classical

LINKS

News item in El Compositor Habla: https://www.elcompositorhabla.com/es/noticias/tomas-marco_1727.zhtm?fbclid=IwAR3FH5T2vnKChJBowdhE7mMyMS6VImncuIY3BC0qpfNy2x-5NUwNSO2l5l4

CD Herbania: