Francisco Bartolomé Sanz Celma (ca. 1640 – 1710),
better known as Gaspar Sanz, was a Spanish composer,
guitarist, organist and priest born to a wealthy family
in Calanda in the comarca of Bajo Aragón, Spain. He
studied music, theology and philosophy at the
University of Salamanca, where he was later appointed
Professor of Music. He wrote three volumes of
pedagogical works for the baroque guitar that form an
important part of today's classical guitar repertory
and have informed modern scholar...(+)
Francisco Bartolomé Sanz Celma (ca. 1640 – 1710),
better known as Gaspar Sanz, was a Spanish composer,
guitarist, organist and priest born to a wealthy family
in Calanda in the comarca of Bajo Aragón, Spain. He
studied music, theology and philosophy at the
University of Salamanca, where he was later appointed
Professor of Music. He wrote three volumes of
pedagogical works for the baroque guitar that form an
important part of today's classical guitar repertory
and have informed modern scholars in the techniques of
baroque guitar playing.
His compositions provide some of the most important
examples of popular Spanish baroque music for the
guitar and now form part of classical guitar pedagogy.
Sanz's manuscripts are written as tablature for the
baroque guitar and have been transcribed into modern
notation by numerous guitarists and editors; Emilio
Pujol's edition of Sanz's Canarios being a notable
example. Sanz's tablature is remarkable in that it is
topologically correct, representing the first string in
the lower line and the fifth string in the highest
printed line. In this epoch, guitars only had five
strings.
The first Spanish Suite consists of some of the most
popular grounds for variations and dances, most of
which had survived from the sixteenth century and
remained popular into the eighteenth. The Rujero is
probably named from a character in the epic ballad
‘The Song of Roland’ which existed in Spanish
versions from at least the thirteenth century. The
piece was also well known in Italy and England. The
Paradetas dates from the second half of the seventeenth
century and is a set dance for a couple. The Folias was
originally Portuguese but early on became a
characteristically Spanish form. It was at first very
fast (the name means ‘mad dance’). The Pabana
(pavan), one of the best known court dances of the
Renaissance, was probably another native Spanish form.
It remained popular in Spain and still exists in some
parts of the country. Vacas is a ground bass which is a
survival of the older song ‘Guardame las vacas’,
used as the basis for sets of variations for vihuela,
harp, guitar and other instruments.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_Sanz).
Although originally created for Baroque Guitar
(5-string), I created this Interpretation of "Folias"
from the Spanish Suite for Concert (Pedal) or Lever
Harp.
