Pablo Márquez, clavichord & harpsichord

Pablo Márquez, clavichord & harpsichord
Ramillete de glosas y toccatas

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Info

During the 16th-18th centuries, the appearance of manuscripts containing extensive collections of dances, glosses of vocal pieces, toccatas, and other musical genres that formed the most common repertoire for keyboard players was very common. This is the case with most of the pieces featured in the program of this concert, titled “Ramillete” in honor of the compilations by the Spanish musician Antonio Martín y Coll in the 18th century. Focusing primarily on English music from the 16th-17th centuries, all the pieces belong to two of the most relevant manuscripts of the so-called English virginalists: the “Fitzwilliam Virginal Book” and “My Ladye Nevells Booke of Virginal Music.” The first manuscript contains a total of 298 compositions by authors such as John Bull, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Giles Farnaby, Thomas Tallis, Martin Peerson, Peter Philips, and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. As for the second manuscript, it is exclusively centered on the music of William Byrd. The selection of pieces in this program follows the tradition of performing different types of dances or grounds (ostinato bass) with a large number of variations. Typically, these types of pieces are divided into several sections, each followed by its respective gloss or diminution (A, A’, B, B’, etc.). There was also a practice of transferring vocal repertoire to keyboard instruments and creating a new ornamented version according to the possibilities of the instrument. This is the case with the famous work “Lachrimae Pavan” by John Dowland, adapted by Giles Farnaby. In today’s program, we will listen to the version by J.P. Sweelinck as an example of the influence this repertoire had throughout Europe. In the case of Toccatas, this genre developed particularly in Italy with composers such as T. Merula or G. Frescobaldi. It represents the application of the second practice of vocal repertoire to purely instrumental keyboard music. Froberger followed in the footsteps of his teacher Frescobaldi in this path, becoming one of the greatest representatives of the well-known “Stylus Phantasticus.” These pieces are highly harmonically inventive, very rhapsodic, and full of tempo contrasts, character variations, and passages that alternate between calmness and technical difficulty. Lastly, it would not be fair to conclude the program without performing a piece by the most prolific Spanish composer for keyboard repertoire: Juan Cabanilles. In this case, the variations on the Xácara (jácara) showcase the author’s ingenuity and virtuosity, which are characteristic of this Valencian composer.

Pablo Márquez Caraballo, the organist of Valencia Cathedral and harpsichord professor at the Superior Conservatory of Music in Castellón, studied organ, harpsichord, early music, and composition at the conservatories of Valencia, Toulouse, Amsterdam, and The Hague, under the guidance of professors M. Bouvard, J.W. Jansen, P. van Dijk, F. Bonizzoni, P. Ayrton, and Ton Koopman. Throughout these years, he has been awarded scholarships by the Valencian Institute of Music and the Huygens Scholarship Programme of the Dutch Ministry of Education. He has won several organ and composition competitions, notably the International Organ Competition “Buxtehude” held in Lübeck, Germany. He has performed numerous organ and harpsichord concerts as a soloist and as a member of chamber and orchestral ensembles in Europe, the United States, and Japan, having the opportunity to participate in major festivals and play on numerous historical instruments. In 2012, he formed the duo “Concertante a quattro” with his wife, Japanese organist Atsuko Takano, with whom he has toured Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan. In 2018, he founded the Cabanilles Consort, a specialized group in Spanish and European music from the 17th and 18th centuries. In September 2017, he obtained a Ph.D. in history from the University of Valencia with his doctoral thesis “History of the organs of Valencia Cathedral from the 16th to the 21st centuries. History and evolution,” earning the distinction of “cum laude.” Among his presentations, he highlights the one given at Cornell University in New York, USA, on the influence of Valencian organ building on the organ works of Joan Cabanilles. Currently, he combines teaching and research with an intense international concert activity.

Program

Promenade por la Europa de los siglos XVI y XVII

Clavichord:

Giles FARNABY (ca.1563-1640)
The Old Spagnoletta 

William BYRD
The Queenes Alman 
Qui Passe: for my Lady Nevell 
A Galliards Gygge 

Jan Pieterszoon SWEELINCK
Onder een linde groen 

Harpsichord:

William BYRD (1543-1623)
My lady Nevell’s Ground 

Edward Johnson (ca.1572–1601)
Johnson’s Medley

William BYRD
Pavan & Gallard

Johann Jakob FROBERGER (1616-1667)
Toccata 

Jan Pieterszoon SWEELINCK (1562-1621)
Paduana Lachrymae 

Girolamo FRESCOBALDI (1583-1643)
Toccata seconda (First Book) 

Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712)
Xácara