The Canario of the Renaissance & Baroque

2011-01-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

As the name suggests, The Canary or Canario was a dance that came to Spain from the Canary Islands. This dance was characterized by foot stomping and jumping, and were almost always in Triple or Compound duple meter. The character of the Canario was rustic and lively, and although it became somewhat sophisticated rhythmically and harmonically in the early through the later Baroque, the rustic and perhaps folk like qualities were usually preserved.

The earliest piece with the name Canario is found in Diego Pisador's Book of Vihuela Music Libro Primo De Musica Vihuela in 1552, "Endechas de canaria". The piece, however, bares little resemblance to any other canario in the literature. In 1588, Arbeau give us the more familiar permutation of the Canario that we see all over the literature. Although harmonically similar to the Bergamasca, I IV V I, the character of the Canario is distinct.

There are two typs of Canarios, The Italian and the Spanish, with 2 sub-types, single phrase and binary, please see below for musical examples. The Italian is what I refer to as the "common form", due to its abundance in the literature. The spanish, however, did use the common form as well, but the Spanish form often employed an extended B section and more harmonic variety than that of its Italian counterpart. You can find an abundance of Canario Grounds in multiple keys with many variants in the book "The Ground Bass Compendium" by Turtels & Twins Press.

(Click Below To enlarge Canario Examples)