Blasco De Nebra, M.: Keyboard Sonatas (Complete), Vol. 2

Featuring

Pedro Casals
Manuel Blasco de Nebra

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Composition History

Despite a reference by Baltasar Saldoni in his Diccionario de efemérides de músicos españoles to Manuel Blasco de Nebra writing 170 works, only 26 keyboard sonatas and six pastorellas are known today.

Composer Biography

Manuel Blasco de Nebra gained renown in Madrid for his exceptional sight-reading abilities and expressive performances on harpsichord, organ, and the then-new piano.

Composer Biography

Manuel Blasco de Nebra, born in Seville in 1750, came from a musical family, with his father, José Blasco de Nebra, an organist, serving as his first teacher.

Compositional Technique

Manuel Blasco de Nebra's fast movements in his keyboard sonatas often imitate the sound of the Spanish guitar, particularly the strumming effects.

Album & Artwork

This album is part of a three-disc collection that brings together all of Manuel Blasco de Nebra's surviving sonatas, organized chronologically to show the evolution of his work.

Compositional Technique

The composer's last sonatas, published as his Opus 1 in 1780, are the most technically and expressively challenging, pushing the limits of contemporary keyboard instruments.

Performer Biography

Pedro Casals, the pianist on this album, earned a doctorate in music from the Madrid Universidad Autónoma with research into the composer Manuel Blasco de Nebra.