Glosa

Thirteen of the 28 tracks on this broad survey of El Siglo de Oro feature the voice of Guillemette Laurens, familiar from other early-music ensembles, typically alternating with the instrumental works. She is accompanied on organ, harp, vihuela, and percussion, the organ an instrument at Lorris-en-Gâtinais dating to 1501, rebuilt a century later, and restored in 1974. The disc takes its title from an anonymous song that comes, like the rest of the program, from 16th-century Spain. The cover art is El Greco’s only portrait of a woman, currently located in Glasgow.

Yasunori Imamura - Spanish Music for Vihuela from the Time of Charles V (2014) {Querstand VKJK 1318}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 248 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 165 Mb
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© 2014 Querstand | VKJK 1318
Classical / Renaissance / Chamber Music / Vihuela

The vihuela, a small guitar-like instrument with six or seven courses of double strings, is less familiar than other members of the Renaissance lute family. Only four original examples exist, and modern players who have mastered the instrument's intricacies and the breadth of its repertoire are few. This release by Japanese player Yasunori Imamura should introduce many listeners to the vihuela's riches. The music here was mostly or all written between 1536 and 1557, during (and just after) the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in Spain. The music includes some by the first composer to write down music for the vihuela, Luys Milán (ca. 1500-1561), and what's even more interesting is how the music stands at the beginning of a progressive trend that would last a century and a half: the use of ground basses to structure a larger composition.

Conductor Domingo Hindoyan introduces us to a selection of beautiful orchestral works by his countrymen from Venezuela. Most, if not all the composers will be new names to many, but their music is extraordinary. Spanning the 20th century, the works are tonal, romantic, colorful, and, in places, the rhythmic vitality of the Venezuelan countryside, towns and cities is unmistakeable. This album is a voyage of discovery, and Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra are the best of guides on this extraordinary journey that will leave listeners captivated and beguiled.

Born in Granada in 1934, Antonio Ruiz-Pipó learnt the guitar in his youth but trained as a pianist in Barcelona, where he was taught by Frank Marshall, doyen of the Spanish piano school made famous by Alicia de Larrocha. Further study in Paris refined Ruiz-Pipó’s compositional technique, and he taught at the École Normale from 1977 until his death in 1997.