Josep Gallés's harpsichord sonatas incorporate many folkloristic patterns of Spanish music, such as guitar-like arpeggios, exotic scales, and dance rhythms.
Compositional Technique
Many of Gallés's slow sonatas and some fast ones include the sign 'arbitro,' which indicates either a written cadenza to be played freely or a corona where the performer improvises a short cadenza.
Performer Biography
Michele Benuzzi, the harpsichordist on this album, won third prize at the 17th Yamanashi International Harpsichord Competition in Japan in 2003.
Composer Biography
Josep Gallés, the composer of these sonatas, was born in 1758 and became 'Maestro di cappella' in the Cathedral of Vic near Barcelona, where he died in 1836.
Compositional Technique
Gallés's sonatas feature extravagant modulations and enharmonic passages, similar to the later sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti.
Performer Biography
Michele Benuzzi founded Arcomelo, a group dedicated to performing 17th and 18th-century music and recovering works from unedited manuscripts in European libraries.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Despite living in a period transitioning from Baroque to Classical aesthetics, Josep Gallés's music maintains a depth of expressivity, distinguishing it from the lighter contemporary early classical music.
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