More Spanish than ... Scarlatti

Domenico Scarlatti is often described as having written quintessentially Spanish music, even though everyone knows he was Italian by birth. This raises two questions: what is "Spanish music" and did Scarlatti really compose it? I'm going to skirt both questions by focusing on the "real thing": a truly Spanish composer, Manuel Blasco de Nebra (1750-1784) and the wonderful recording of his music by Carole Cerasi.

When describing "Spanish" music, one often resorts to references to strumming guitars and clicking castanets. This is a beloved stereotype, one hard to pass up because the gypsy flamenco music is so engaging. However, I think there is a character much more fundamentally Spanish that I hear in the vihuela music of the 16th Century: sweet, pensive and sincere. It is thoughtful and introspective music that is more interested in capturing the essence of a thought or mood, rather than dazzle the listener with empty pyrotechnics. This is almost the opposite of flamenco, which is very extroverted and flashy music, perhaps more interested in catching the passion than the underlying meaning. (One ends up out on a very long limb when trying to distill music down to such generalizations. Still, I don't hear the branch breaking just yet...)

de Nebra was seven years old when the great Domenico died. He must have been influenced by the greatest composer of Spain (after all, Scarlatti himself identified with Spain, even if his origins were Italian) and it doesn't seem that he tried to evolve the harmonic language, and therefore his music is inherently conservative. His surviving works (only 30 out of 172 that were known to exist) are in the binary form Scarlatti favored, but I think he picks his ideas more carefully and develops them more fully. The CD notes describes the Op. 1 sonatas as technically demanding, but one doesn't have that sense, at least when Cerasi performs them. The opening Adagio of the Pastorela in G major immediately establishes that we have a unique voice: a beautiful, nostalgic melody that evokes sitting under perhaps a Spanish olive tree in the late Summer. I'm not exactly sure what we are contemplating under that tree, but it is pleasant. The Pastorela that follows carries the theme and underlying harmonies forward with a bit more energy and syncopation: whatever thought we were pondering has brought us off the ground into a little dance. The complete Pastorela ends with a Minuet that continues to unify the original theme, but that is a more formal dance, but one full of surprises. At nine and a half minutes, this three-part work already has more development than the average Scarlatti piece—even if you pair up the sonatas, as Kirkpatrick suggests.

Carole Cerasi, who will be playing in San Diego in a couple of weeks (and which prompted my increased interest in her recordings), approaches de Nebra's music lovingly. This is not an album intended to show off incredible technique, which she clearly has, but rather to share the beauty of this neglected master. I think it is a mistake to approach this album from a perspective of Scarlatti. Someone expecting to hear Scarlatti may be disappointed when they hear longer, more reserved and thoughtful works. True, there are a few Prestos (like the one from the f# minor sonata) that have the punch and sparkle of Scarlatti's best showpieces, but the recording includes 8 Adagios; Scarlatti may occasionally slow down to Andante, but I'm not sure I've ever noticed an Adagio from him! If you are looking for the strumming guitars and clicking castanets, look elsewhere. If you would like to ponder on a hillside, overlooking a medieval Spanish town on a fine day or perhaps participate in a simple peasant dance in the town square, this could be your ticket.

The recording is done on two very fine historical instruments: a 1785 harpsichord by Antunes, which is what we would call "Italianate", with a great deal of character, and a 1793 fortepiano by Lengerer, an instrument that sounds very much like a Stein. Each instrument demonstrates a different aspect of the music: the harpsichord has a great deal of color, the fortepiano handles the expressiveness of the music. Indeed, I could see this music working very well on the clavichord or even the modern piano.