FIMTE – The First Festival of Spanish Keyboard Music
A Performer’s Perspective
By Sheli Nan October 2001
Imagine my excitement when I finally arrived in Almeria, a city on the southeastern coast of Spain. I arrived on the only rainy day of the year and traveled by taxi partly on the coast and partly through the mountains to the coastal town of Mujacar, east of Almeria. On arrival at the Parador Nacional in Mujacar – an elegant hotel once a castle and now run by the Government – I was met by Louisa Morales, the director of FIMTE, the Festival.
I was given my name-tag and information packet and ushered into the convention hall with 25 other fortunate invitees. There were a fascinating mix of participants – performers such as Rafael Puyana, the famed English conductor Bruno Turner, harpsichordists Louisa Morales and myself, builders such as Grant O’Brien and Rafael Adrian Marijuan, musicologists such as Linton Powell, Beryl Kenyon de Pascual; co-director of the festival, Alma Espinosa and teachers from the Conservatories of Music throughout Spain: Genoveva Galvez, Isabel Rocha, and Rodrigo Madrid.
The four days were organized beautifully. After introductory remarks and welcome we were taken by bus to the neighboring town of Vera. There, in a charming church in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento a commemorative plaque in honor of Diego Fernandez, first known builder of harpsichord in Spain, was unveiled, Vera in fact being the hometown of Maestro Fernandez. Then there was a reception in the restaurant next door complete with Spanish wines and beer and many appetizing tapas.
After this we had our first presentation. It was a symposium on the Spanish harpsichord. Beryl Kenyon, research scholar on the instruments and builders of Spanish harpsichord, moderated after presenting an introduction on Diego Fernandez. Fernandez made a wide range of instruments with compasses of 51-63 notes, 2-6 registers, 1 or 2 manuals, and at least one transposing harpsichord with a movable keyboard.
Pedro Calahoura, Institucion "Fernando el Catolico", Zaragoza, spoke on the history of keyboard instruments for the Aragon region. The master buildes, ther Zaragozan Moors of the 15-16,c built organs, clavichords, and the "claviorgan", the symbiosis between the harpsichord and the organ.
Christina Bordas, Univ, Complutense, Madrid, presented information about an anonymous Spanish harpsichord preserved in the Obradoiro de Lugo.
Ferdinando Granziera, Milano, spoke about the problematic restoration of a collector’s instrument.
And to conclude the afternoon’s utter enjoyment Grant O’Brien, Russell Collection, Edinburgh, gave a spirited presentation on the determination of the unit of measurement used to ascertain where Spanish keyboards are made.
The tone of the day’s events was scholarly, immensely enjoyable and argumentative. Mr. Puyana had many interesting points to offer and this lovely group of learned colleagues quickly settled into a good natured and lively repartee. And I may add, "Casi todo en espanol"!
After a pause, where we went upstairs and once more ate and drank Spanish delicacies, we returned downstairs for an abbreviated panel on the construction, reproduction and actual use of Spanish keyboards.
In the evening we gathered once more at the Iglesia de la Encarnacion in Vera for a marvelous concert by Louisa Morales. She performed Music of the Spanish Court, from the Pavanne to the Fandango. Having trained with Maestro Puyana and other well known European teachers,, her concert was flawless and elegant. Like all the Festival concerts, it was also open to the general public and was full to capacity. The composers performed included, Cabezon, Valente, Soler, Scarlatti, and the 18thc Sonata en Re Mayor by Mateo Perez de Albeniz.
The second day of the Festival began with a paper, presented by Alma Espinosa, Univ. Massachusetts-Lowell, entitled, "Felix Maximo Lopez Musica del Clave’: Really for Harpsichord?" Lopez, an organist at the Royal Chapel of Spain, from 1775 until his death in 1821, was active at a time when the fortepiano was gaining ascendancy over the harpsichord.
Then Barry Ife (King’s College, London) spoke on the need for a definitive catalogue of the keyboard works of Antonio Soler.
After that Linton Powell of the University of Texas at Arlington spoke and gave keyboard examples of "Two Gentlemen of Sevilla: the keyboard works by Manuel Blasco de Nebra and Joaquin Montero" Both had composed important keyboard works in Spanish repertoire at the time of transition from harpsichord to fortepiano. 1730-1815.
Dr. Esther Morales Canadas from Wuskrichen, Germany, presented a complex technical paper on ornamentation in Spanish music of the 17c.
This was followed by a paper entitled, "reflections about the Interpretation of Spanish Keyboard Music: rhythm, time signature, harmony and ornamentation" by Genoveva Galvez, from the Catedratica Real Conservatorio Superior de Madrid.
It is important to note here that all of these presentations were punctuated by the erudite and provocative remarks of the audience members, led by Maestro Puyana. Many times the chair lost control of the presentation as people engaged in lively debates. (It was so much fun!)
After a pause, a coffee and cookie refresher, the presentations continued. Rodrigo Madrid of the Conservatorio Superior de Musica, Valencia, spoke of the contributions to the Keyboard Sonata Form in the compositions of Manuel Narro, 1729-1776.
And then we came to perhaps the most controversial presentation of all: "An Italian in Spain – Performance Practice in the Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti" by Jane Clark, London. Ms Clark could not attend due to illness, so her paper was read by Beryl Kenyon. I sat simmering in my seat as many of my basic assumptions and beliefs about Domingo Escarlatti were assailed. For example, Ms Clark wrote"….he was a frustrated opera composer" Eyes rolled in the audience and there were groans and the shifting of chairs. Or perhaps,"…the melancholy and the solitary anguish so typical of so much Spanish music, particularly that of Andalusia where Scarlatti spent his first four vital years in Spain, clearly struck a sympathetic chord in the Italian’s exile." You can imagine what the current Andalusians at the Festival thought of this! Basically, as they eyed one another over yet another fabulous glass of Andalusian wine, eyebrows raised and faces creased in smiles, they said, "Que? Solitary anguish? Andalusia? Scarlatti?" There were many other references to a composer only Ms. Clark seemed to know, and one after another audience members popped up in indignation. Ms. Kenyon many a times protested, "It’s not my paper." I only read it!"
After a beer and wine break, Julieta Alvarado, University of Southwest State, Minnesota, presented a paper "From the Viceroy of New Spain to the Viceroyalty of La Plata: 2 important sources for 18c Keyboard Music." Then the first two days of the Festival concluded with a paper entitled, "The Harpsichord in contemporary Spain, its absence and return" presented by Isabel Rocha, Harpsichord Professor at the Observatorio Superior de Musica del Liceo de Barcelona. This was an interesting way to close this first half of the Festival. As we spoke about and listened to a modern composition for harpsichord, we were actually provoked into a discussion of the politics of performance. This has always been a very important topic for me and I found myself on the same side of the fence with Maestro Puyana as we discussed this.
The builders presented demonstrated their instruments – instruments of great beauty and integrity. There were two virginals, a clavichord, a Portuguese harpsichord and an Italian harpsichord. Builders Perez Ananas and Carlos Paniagua were represented as well as 12 photographs of historical Spanish instruments. There was also an exhibition of books and cds.
The evening concluded with a veritable feast and recital of flamenco song at the Parador Nacional de Mojacar.
Two more days of instruction in early Spanish Keyboard music and Spanish dance followed, taught by Louisa Morales. She concentrated on the repertory for keyboard from the 16-18th c. She taught festival participants as well as local students of piano who were getting their first taste of Spanish harpsichord music. Maestro Cristobal Salvador taught classes on Baile Bolero. His program on the bolero de Vera and the Sevillanas boleros de Fuente Alamo were attended by the local public as well. On one unique afternoon both classes combined and Louisa performed selections from Scarlatti and Soler and the dance class danced the pieces. It was delightful. On Saturday night we returned to the first marvelous church where Bruno Turner directed the Musica Reservata de Barcelona. The program was entitled, "Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599) 400 Years Later!" This concert had its magic moments when the a capella singing of these talented musicians, under the brilliant leadership of Bruno Turner, became blissful and sublime. The Church was full to overflowing and the audience was transported to another time. (By the way, this church once harbored a magnificent organ that was destroyed during the time of Franco.)
On Sunday I gave a concert entitled, "Old Age Meets New Age", a mixture of original and Spanish music for the harpsichord. Besides performing Scarlatti, I performed a work by Juan Moreno y Polo, this work, newly discovered by Louisa Morales, has been published in her book, "Obras Para Tecla Del Siglo 18" by the Institucion Fernando el Catolico. This wonderful book of music, comprising 58 pages of recently discovered work by Ms. Morales not only contains charming music that represents a pedagogical past but in fact is an excellent teaching tool for Spanish harpsichord lovers. Luisa said that my concert was the first time a living composer had given a concert on harpsichord in over 200 years. I performed at El Museo in Garrucha and it was sold out event attended by both Festival goers and the Spanish public. Later that evening, in a Castle in Mojacar, there was concert given by Director Begona Olavide called, "Tras Las Huellas de Al-Andalus." This famous troupe sang pieces such as the lament "Romance sobre la toma de Granada" by Juan del Encina, 15-16c.
On Monday Afternoon I gave a concert at the Conservatorio Elemental de Musica in Cuevas, titled, "La Musica nos cuenta una Historia". This was a first as well because a harpsichord concert had never before been presented to children. I believe this to be of the utmost importance. If we educate our youth at an early age, there is a more likely chance that children will follow up as adults in their pursuit of early music. Currently, in my studio here in Berkeley California, I teach over 12 students under the age of 16 that own their own harpsichords as well as pianos.
To conclude, Louisa Morales presented an erudite elegant event full of scholarship and companionship. New friends were made, new information was learned, great food was eaten, stimulating music was heard, and all benefited from the clarity and organization of this remarkably talented woman, who not only played host to this first international event but gave generously in her marvelous concert.