Rodrigo - Cinco piezas del Siglo XVI

[cbreemer]

At long last I recorded some solo work again. Joaquin Rodrigo is one of my favorite composers - he was both forward-looking and completely in tune with the Spanish music of past centuries. These lovingly reworked compositions of 4 different Spanish Renaissance masters sound completely idiomatic and I hope I am doing them justice. Note in particular how in the Diferencias the noble theme appears consequently in all 4 different voices (not at all easy to realize, this voicing).
Comments welcome.

1: Diferencias sobre el "Canto del Caballero" (Antonio de Cabezon) (3:14)
2: Pavana (Luis de Milan) (1:36)
3: Pavana (Luis de Milan) (1:35)
4: Pavana (Enriquez de Valdebarrano) (3:27)
5: Fantasia que contrahace la harpa de Ludovico (Alonso Mudarra) (1:36)

[cbreemer]

And no.5

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Nice pieces. Of course I'm not familiar with them, nor the source material, but they come across well. No 4 is definitely my favourite. My one criticism would be that in no 5 the sound is a bit too "forward" and if it's meant to be mimicking a harp, I would aim for a more subtle impressionistic sound.

[cbreemer]

Thanks for the reply Andrew. I'm not sure if no.5 is meant to evoke a harp, despite the title, and as such asks for an impressionistic approach. The tempo designation Allegro con brio, the sharp rhythms and dynamic contrasts do not seem to point that way. It feels more like a rousing  closing piece. But it's an interesting point - one could always do different things with a piece.