Soler: El Diablo vestido de fraile

Featuring

Diego Ares
Padre Antonio Soler

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Padre Antonio Soler, the composer, was known as "the Devil dressed as a friar" due to his exceptional harpsichord skills.

Composition History

Soler dedicated his theoretical book, Llave de la Modulación y Antigüedades de la Música (Key to Modulation and Musical Antiquities, Madrid, 1762), to the Hieronymite community, which then financed its printing costs.

Historical Context

Soler maintained contact with the outside world, participating in the Concert Spirituel de Paris in 1768 and corresponding with Padre Martini in Bologna.

Compositional Technique

Musicologist Santiago Kastner argued that Soler's musical language is "essentially Spanish," despite Italian influences, defending his individuality against Scarlatti and other Italian contemporaries.

Instruments

The harpsichord used for this recording is a copy of a 1734 Spanish harpsichord by Francisco Pérez Mirabal of Seville, showing strong influence from Hamburg instrument design.

Composer Biography

Soler, a monk at the Escorial monastery, was able to deepen his musical knowledge with Domenico Scarlatti, harpsichord teacher to Queen María Bárbara de Braganza, and José de Nebra, harpsichord teacher to Infante Don Gabriel de Borbón.

Composer Biography

Soler received gifts and favors from the aristocracy, including money, chocolate, silk handkerchiefs, and a gold clock, in exchange for his sonatas, poems, and various delicacies.