Fans, fantasias and fandangos

A journey in time through Spain from the 16^th century to the 20^th – from the courts of Phillip II with Diego Ortiz (Recercardia 1553)  to that of Queen Maria Bárbara in Madrid with Domenico Scarlatti two centuries later (Sonatas 1752 – 57). In our own age – Joaquin Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un gentilhombre and Stephen Yates’ improvisation on a 16-bar fandango all capture the essence of Spain and reveal the extent and variety of Spanish life. With Shaun Ng (viola da gamba), Shaun Warden (violin) and Diana Weston (harpsichord).

The Rose Room, 51F Sunninghill Ave,  Burradoo Sep 23 at 4 pm

St Luke’s Church, Ourimbah Rd, Mosman Sep 24 at 3pm

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Fantasia in C minor BWV 906

Diego Ortiz (1510-1570) Ricercar for viola da gamba

Stephen Yates Fandangle Indeed for harpsichord, violin and viola da gamba

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757),Sonata K. 175, 208,18

Joaquin Rodrigo Fantasia para un gentilhombre (1964) arr. for harpsichord, violin and viola da gamba

Villano y ricercar, Espaňoleta y Fanfare de la Caballería de Nápoles, Danza de las Hachas, Canario

Joaquin Rodrigo’s work for guitar and orchestra is entitled Fantasia para un gentilhombre (fantasia for a gentleman). Its movements are headed Villano y ricercar, Espaňoleta y Fanfare de la Caballería de Nápoles, Danza de las Hachas, Canario. Most of these are forms of Spanish dance deriving from the 17^th century and possibly pre-dating that as folk-dance. Fanfares then as now, were musical announcements of something or someone of importance.  A ricercar is a form of canon, again commonly used in the 17^th century. And a fantasia is a free piece, often improvisatory in nature, sometimes exploring the tonality of the section to come, or introducing the work but always allowing free rein to the composer’s imagination. Traditional forms of these occur throughout the program.

So, Rodrigo has delved into the past to create his Fantasia, borrowing forms from the Spanish baroque but making it unmistakeably 20^th century in his shifts of harmony and his instrumentation (which we have changed!).

Stephen Yates’ Fandangle Indeed has at its core an anonymous 32-bar fandango, as noted in Richard Taines’ ‘Travels through Portugal and Spain in 1772 and 1773’. A short poem prefaces the brief score: ‘For as day turns to night, Beware the time when this, Fine fair Fandangle indeed, Does end’. A note of menace pervades this melodramatic piece. Fandangos, thought to derive from other Spanish dance-forms such as the Canario, are dances for two people accompanied by castanets, tambourines, guitar or hand clapping. They could be representing courtship or seduction, but equally, especially when performed by two men, confrontation.

Moving back in time, the traditional use of the fantasia form is seen in Bach’s Fantasia in C minor which uses arpeggiated chords to define the predominant and related keys. Also, interestingly, other technical devices such as brain-twisting hand-crossings and playing one hand on top of the other, devices favoured by Scarlatti but rare in his own compositions. And in fact the similarities don’t stop there. Bach’s fantasia is also a one-movement affair, binary in form, the second half reflecting but not the same as the first. Did Bach ever hear any of Scarlatti’s sonatas? Perhaps Scarlatti’s sonatas would be better termed ‘fantasias’.

Scarlatti, born in Italy but spending most of his working life in Spain, wrote many sonatas for harpsichord or the earliest keyboards. Most of these 550-odd works are single movements, often distinctly influenced by Spanish idioms – chordal figurations and strong dissonances highly suggestive of the guitar.

Finally, the polyphonic nature of the early ricercar is beautifully defined in the pieces for viola da gamba by Spanish composer Diego Ortiz.