Soler vs. Scarlatti

[soliloquy]

Discuss

[webern78]

Scarlatti, by a mile.

[rach n bach]

Scarlatti

Scarlatti

Scarlatti

Rachmanninov   

[ahinton]

I believe that "soliloquy" was hoping to initiate a discussion; mere repetition of one of the two composer's names and the introduction of another one outside the thread's terms of reference and then mis-spelling it seems to me to fall rather short of any such "discussion"...

Ah, well...

Best,

Alistair

[rach n bach]

Allright...

I love Scarlatti... I think that his music is very unique, and better even than Bach's in some cases.  Soler, bah, I've heard several pieces written by him, but for me, he just lacks the muiscal spark that Scarlatti has.

RnB

[iumonito]

I think they are both great.  Soler's Spanish flavor is only marginally more Spanish than Scarlatti's and naturaly the later was a formidable influence on the former.

Soler is bolder in both structure and harmony, although Scarlatti was the true innovator in terms of keyboarding and development of the aesthtic aspirations of the form.

Are Soler's sonatas organized in dyptics like so many of Scarlatti's.

[burstroman]

I think that Soler is a pleasant alternative to Scarlatti, especially considering his "Spanish" flavor.  He should be played more and is accessible to students of a level not too advanced level.

[webern78]

Soler is bolder in both structure and harmony

The problem is that this 'structural' and 'harmonic' boldness isn't the result of a clear artistic aim, he was just trying to stir himself away from his mentor, alas, unsuccessfully.

Most of the times he just rambles around without a clear goal until he goes back at imitating Scarlatti. He may have been a talented musician but didn't have the mark of a creative genius.

[mikey6]

The problem is that this 'structural' and 'harmonic' boldness isn't the result of a clear artistic aim, he was just trying to stir himself away from his mentor, alas, unsuccessfully.

Most of the times he just rambles around without a clear goal until he goes back at imitating Scarlatti. He may have been a talented musician but didn't have the mark of a creative genius.

I think I agree after listening to Fandango - unfortunately it was a midi file listed under the mp3, so perhaps a living performer could do more with it, but it got a tad tedious.
Scarlatti was incredibly bold in his harmony, it's full of chromatic clusters, unheard of in his time.

[Mozartian]

I don't think they really compare that much. Scarlatti is very baroque, Soler is more a bridge into the Classical era (although somewhat similar to Scarlatti in some ways). I'm not a great fan of the Fandango (which, btw, it isn't certain that he wrote), but many of his sonatas are really lovely and deserved to be played more, in my opinion. Very enjoyable pieces.