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Full view

I recommend to view the full version here: it allows you to transpose the score, to slow down the music, loop sections, and see a visual keyboard, etc.

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Musicians

More Hispano — Vicente Parrilla
Vicente Parrilla, recorder & musical direction
Juan Carlos Rivera, vihuela
Rami Alqhai, viol
Javier Núñez, harpsichord

• Credits and concert photos
• Full concert audio:
  • Video: 1 and 2
  • Audio streaming
  • Buy high-quality (lossless) download (FLAC files)

The post Transcription: Passacaglia improvisation (Warsaw 2014) appeared first on More Hispano.

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The post “Six Transcribed Improvisations on La Spagna” appeared first on More Hispano.

A few photos from our concert at Varaždin Baroque Evenings Festival (September 27, 2016), courtesy of the festival.

The post Concert at Varaždin Baroque Evenings, Croatia appeared first on More Hispano.

Glosas live in Warsaw. Full concert audio.

Credits

Programme: Glosas & improvisations

New embellishments on Spanish & Italian Renaissance music

1. Antoine Busnoys: Fortuna desperata* 0:00
2. Marchetto Cara: Chi me dara piu pace* 4:21
3. Bartolomeo Tromboncino: Per dolor me bagno il viso* 8:02
4. Josquin Desprez: Mille regretz* 16:08
5. Philippe Verdelot: Igno soave* 20:38
6. Ph. Verdelot: Madonna per voi ardo* 24:46
7. Anon: Une jeune fillette* 32:50
8. P.R. dit Sandrin: Doulce Memoire* 37:12
9. Vicente Parrilla: Contrapunto sobre Ave Maris Stella 41:39
10. Passacaglia (improvisation) 45:12
11. Ciaccona (improvisation) 55:57
12. La Spagna (improvisation) – encore 1:07:50

*Embellishments: Vicente Parrilla

The musicians

More Hispano — Vicente Parrilla
Vicente Parrilla, recorder & musical direction
Juan Carlos Rivera, vihuela
Rami Alqhai, viola da gamba
Javier Núñez, harpsichord

Audio

Listen on SoundCloud.

Glosas live in Warsaw

• Recorded at Warsaw Music Encounters Festival, May 16, 2014
• Photos: Marta Skotnicka-Karska
• Recording engineer: Marcin Domżał

Special thanks to: Władysław Słowiński

The post Glosas live in Warsaw appeared first on More Hispano.

Musicians

• Javier Núñez, harpsichord
• Rami Alqhai, viola da gamba
• Juan Carlos Rivera, vihuela
• Vicente Parrilla, recorders & musical direction

Audio

Update from 28/7/14: the full concert audio is available here.

Concert photos

Update from 20/10/14: concert photos gallery

Thanks to Władysław Słowiński and the Polish Composers’ Union.

The post Concert in Warsaw Music Encounters appeared first on More Hispano.

Photo gallery from our concert at East Cork Early Music Festival, courtesy of John Finn. More Hispano: Vicente Parrilla, Rami Alqhai, Miguel Rincón y Javier Núñez.

“At its best, the group’s style came as close as anything I’ve heard to an early-music jam session, with caution thrown to the wind.”
—The Irish Times, October 16, 2013

The post More Hispano Quartet at East Cork Early Music Festival appeared first on More Hispano.

And here’s the concert review by the Tiroler Tageszeitung (July 18, 2013):

Alte Musik voll spontanem Leben

Innsbruck – “Verzierung und Improvisation sind Techniken der Alten Musik, die den gerüsthaft begriffenen Notentext erweiternd zum Leben erwecken. Beides gehörte in der Renaissance und im Barock zum Rüstzeug des Musikers, verlangt heute viel Studium und Feeling – als Kreation des Augenblicks mit dem Jazz vergleichbar. Der spanische Blockflötist Vicente Parrilla, mit seinem Ensemble More Hispano und der Sopranistin Olalla Alemán im zweiten Ambraser Schlosskonzert zu Gast, hat sich diesen Künsten so intensiv gewidmet, dass er sie bis zur Verselbständigung, sogar bis zur Eigenkomposition (Kontrapunkt über „Ave Maris Stella“) einsetzen kann. Das ergab einen spannenden Abend der spontanen Interaktion und Virtuosität, indem Renaissancemusik von Antoine Busnoys, Marchetto Cara, Bartolomeo Tromboncino, Josquin Desprez, Sandrin und Philippe Verdelot, voll Leben, Leichtigkeit und Abwechslung, im Frühbarock (Barbara Strozzi) sich herrlich einswingend. Ein tiefes, technisch bewundernswertes Eintauchen in frühe Musik. „Jede Note, die ich spiele, ist von mir“, sagt Vicente Parrilla. Abgesehen von seiner hohen Kunst, eine wunderbare Grundeinstellung für jeden Musiker.”
—Tiroler Tageszeitung, July 18, 2013

My heartfelt thanks to Christa, Flora & Alessandro!

The post Review & photos from our concert at Innsbruck Early Music Festival appeared first on More Hispano.

A few photos from our concert at Sevilla Early Music Festival (FEMÀS) 2012, courtesy of the festival. More Hispano: Johanna Rose, Javier Núñez, Vicente Parrilla, Rami Alqhai & Miguel Rincón.

The post Concert at Sevilla Early Music Festival (FEMÀS) 2012 appeared first on More Hispano.

“Parrilla ofrece un amplio muestrario de recursos virtuosísticos. Los resultados son de una frescura, una espontaneidad y una vitalidad por completo subyugantes.”
—Scherzo Magazine, 1 de enero de 2012

This CD is currently on sale. Buy now

The post GLOSAS, listed among the “Exceptional” CDs at Spanish magazine Scherzo appeared first on More Hispano.

1. The idea

“Glosas” is a very personal project which brings together original and unpublished material, and one that I’ve had in mind for a long time. (Once again, a challenge.) If our previous recording (Yr a oydo, 2010) intended to confront the enormous demand posed today by improvisation within early music, the main idea behind “Glosas” is to produce a disc in which each and every note I play are, in one form or another, mine (except, of course, for the original melodies): improvised, composed, or—in the case of Ganassi’s glosas—chosen by me. Moreover, they are the three fundamental options of interpretation that a Renaissance musician would have surely been in command of. And most likely in that order.

2. On the glosa

The role of the glosa in music, especially the Renaissance type, is probably as important as its literary equivalent. In a recent visit to Seville (April, 2011), Bob Marvin shared a reflection with me²:

“Literary glosses expand on the main text, adding new breadth or depth; or they give the reader’s personal reactions. Can musical glosas do likewise, beyond being merely ornamental?”

I am convinced that they can. Musical glosas (probably as old as music itself), an equal of its literary counterpart, has the potential to comment, clarify, explain, or contradict a text, generating a meta-text which, in turn, makes room for as many interpretations as there are listeners. With varying degrees of presence, elaboration, complexity, codification, and importance (and without any kind of geographic or temporal barrier), the glosa appears to have been a part of most varied repertoires. Such fidelity is not surprising if we consider ornamentation or the glosa as an inherent part of musical language, given its overwhelming tendency to continuously appear in musical discourse as a select tool, at the musician’s disposal, used to realize ideas most varied in nature. In the case of Renaissance music, the glosa is especially relevant because of its ubiquitous presence (appearing in both printed music collections or theoretical treatises as much as improvisation, reflecting the styles and personal preferences of their authors, and present in every kind of musical genre), becoming an inseparable aspect—and without which would be incoherent—of an overwhelming amount of repertoire.

—Bob Marvin autograph.

3. The repertoire

Glosas, like improvisation, happen… at the very least, in my head: “Doctor, I hear glosas.” They are the natural consequence of relishing an especially attractive melody or harmony (so much so that they are difficult to rid from our heads) which, once absorbed, interpreted, or lived, are reproduced with slight—or not-so-slight—variations.

This is what gives meaning to the program chosen for this recording, in which is found a number of songs and madrigals that enjoyed great popularity during the Renaissance (Mille regretz, De tous biens playne, Anchor che col partire, Je suis une jeune fillette, or Doulce Memoire), as can be seen in numerous reissues and various surviving editions.

Another set of works is made up of early Italian polyphonic works, such as the frottolas Chi me dara and Per dolor or the madrigals of Verdelot (Madonna per voi ardo and Igno soave). For two pieces, I composed contrapuntal lines—the recercada by Diego Ortiz, which I added a voice in imitation, and the Contrapunto sobre Ave Maris Stella, a most free line although inspired by the duos of Antonio de Cabezón.

Finally, two works included could also be considered bonus tracks, since they don’t belong to the set of glosas that I created: Diferencias sobre La Dama le Demanda, which appears as was published in the Obras of Cabezón (arranged for voice and instruments, not just keyboard); and a free improvisation over a passacaglia bass which we put down on the final day of recording, already exhausted yet filled with purpose.

4. Approach to the repertoire

The main idea of this recording entails the creation of new glosas applied to the Renaissance repertoire. The material is, therefore, original and unpublished, newly created, and therefore especially close to me.

The process of creation has been quite varied—from the selection and organization of existing glosas, taken from the Fontegara (S. Ganassi, Venice, 1535), as in the case of the frottolas (tracks 2 and 3) and the madrigals of Verdelot (tracks 6 and 7), to the newly-composed contrapuntal lines in the fourth recercada of Ortiz (track 12) and Ave Maris Stella (track 11), through the free improvisation over a passacaglia bass (track 14).

In the creation of many of the glosas, however, I did not consult any historical treatise. I simply wrote down glosas heard in my head (applied to Mille Regretz, Anchor che col partire, Une jeune fillette and Doulce Memoire.
Special mention goes to De tous biens playne, since it is a transcription of a live improvisation, a curious case—it is an improvisation I played during a concert in Seville in May of 2002, which emerged spontaneously and without being planned. Thankfully, the concert was recorded, which allowed me to transcribe it later. I did it because the result struck me as interesting and also because, as I recall, it was the first time I had ever improvised in public (and without it being planned).

5. The instruments and voice

The arrangements have been (almost always) small-scale, primarily the duos for recorder (or voice) and lute (tracks 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12), to which is added a viola da gamba in three trios (tracks 1, 2, and 3), and finally in a pair of pieces that include recorder and viol consort, plus lute (track 6) and harpsichord (track 7). Special cases, again, are the works La Dama le Demanda, with the same instrumentation as Yr a oydo (track 13) and the improvisation over a Passacaglia with tenor recorder, theorbo, and percussion (track 14).
The human voice was, without question, the model for Renaissance instrumentalists (and, in one manner or another, it can be said of every period). Declamation—colors, inflexions, and certain timbres (and what better model than the wonderful voice of Raquel— makes many instrumentalists look to her as the highest model of imitation, while recognizing her unquestionable supremacy over instruments.

There are, however, certain areas in which instruments can create a type of interpretation sufficiently rich so that a mere “instrumental voice” can, in itself, create a high degree of interest.

These areas are usually related, in my experience (and I’m not referring to my experience as creator or interpreter but as a listener), with the inventive, with the creation, and this is, in cases where it reaches a point of excellence, the only road that can permit an instrumentalist to create an interest and a richness comparable to those that are accomplished by the human voice. In my view, the glosa—at least in the hands of the old masters—is one of those places.

Vicente Parrilla
April 2011

The post GLOSAS—The Liner Notes appeared first on More Hispano.

If our previous recording (Yr a oydo, 2010) intended to confront the enormous demand posed today by improvisation within early music, the main idea behind “Glosas” is to produce a disc in which each and every note I play are, in one form or another, mine (except, of course, for the original melodies): improvised, composed, or—in the case of Ganassi’s glosas—chosen by me.

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1. Repertoire:

1. De tous biens playne — Roelkin (fl. 15th c.) / H. van Ghizeghem (ca. 1445-1497) [04:18]
2. Chi me dara piu pace — Marchetto Cara (ca. 1465-1525) [04:01]
3. Per dolor me bagno il viso — Bartolomeo Tromboncino (1470-d.1534) [05:32]
4. Mille regretz — Luys de Narváez (fl. 1526-49) / J. des Prez [03:31]
5. Mille regretz — Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450-1521) [04:03]
6. Igno soave — Philippe Verdelot (ca. 1480-ca.1530) [06:19]
7. Madonna per voi ardo — Philippe Verdelot [05:46]
8. Anchor che col partire — Cipriano de Rore (ca.1515-1565) [06:33]
9. Une jeune fillette — Anon. (pub. 1576) [05:44]
10. Doulce Memoire — Pierre Regnault dit Sandrin (ca. 1490-ca.1560) [03:59]
11. Counterpoint on Ave Maris Stella — Vicente Parrilla (*1977) [02:49]
12. Counterpoint on La Spagna — Diego Ortiz (ca. 1510-1570) / Vicente Parrilla [03:44]
13. Diferencias sobre La Dama le demanda — Antonio de Cabezón (ca. 1510-1566) [02:38]
14. Passacaglia — (free improvisation) [09:15]

Glosas:

• Improvised glosas by Vicente Parrilla: track 1
• Glosas by Vicente Parrilla after S. Ganassi (1535): tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, 10
• Glosas by Vicente Parrilla: tracks 5, 8, 9

2. A video of the Passacaglia improvisation, filmed live during the recording sessions of GLOSAS (track 9):

You thought “Yr a oydo” was good? Then “Glosas” will knock you out!
—Alina Rotaru, clavecinista, Bremen.

3. Audio samples:

4. Performers:

GLOSAS was recorded at the same time as our previous disc, taking advantage of the available gaps during four hectic days in April of 2009 when we recorded Yr a oydo, which was a terrific effort on the part of the musicians involved, who I thank from my heart.

Vicente Parrilla, recorders, direction
Raquel Andueza, soprano
Miguel Rincón, lute & theorbo
Fahmi Alqhai, viola da gamba
Rami Alqhai, viola da gamba
Johanna Rose, viola da gamba
Jesús Fernández, lute
Javier Núñez, harpsichord
Álvaro Garrido, percussion

5. Downloads:

• Booklet (EN, ES, DE) (pdf, 1.2MB)
• Presskit (.zip, 22.7MB)

6. Now available:

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GLOSAS is also available as an audio download in iTunes.

The post GLOSAS: New CD Now Available appeared first on More Hispano.

“La terçera [manera] es sallir dela composition y yr a oydo, o a poco más o menos, no llevando certindad delo que se haze”.
—Diego Ortiz, Trattado de Glosas, Roma 1553, Modo de glosar sobre el libro

1. The Impulse

Yr a oydo (old Spanish for ‘going by ear’) rethinks the role of a performer of early music today—who is often limited to playing only what is written in the score—and tries to put into place the creative aspect that the performer not only owns but also shouldn’t avoid.

2. (Brief) Historical Context

Improvisation was more than a common practice in daily music-making during the Renaissance. Spanish musicians of the time provide a brilliant example of this practice. Regardless of the type of publication,² improvisation and glosas—which can be seen as a written reflection of a parallel written improvisational practice—were always present to a greater or lesser extent and demonstrate great excellence and a good deal of inventiveness.

Modo de glosar sobre el libro. Diego Ortiz, Trattado de Glosas, Rome 1553

A glance at any of the copious performing directions of these books and, by extension, nearly any 16th-century music book, will immediately reveal an active approach to repertory and music making. Even a superficial analysis of almost any piece included in the music publications by such eminent musicians as Cabezón or any of the vihuelists (just to mention the Spanish scene) clearly shows a profound urge to–literally–inundate every piece of music which got in the performer’s hands (or ears) with all kind of manipulations, from the simplest embellished versions to the most thoughtful reworking, including the addition of extra lines or the alteration of the original structure of the pieces.

3. An Active Approach

And I don’t say that performers took liberty to do so or that they allowed themselves to do so:

A widely neglected fact in today’s performance practice is that there are repertories within Western art music (Renaissance music being one of the finest examples) that not only allow but desperately ask for our involvement as performers in every aspect of these creative techniques mentioned above, just as old performers once did.

This active approach, completely alien nowadays, leads us to consider many of these musicians as composers rather than just performers. Certainly, during the Renaissance, the division between these two roles was often unclear, but I would bet many of the crafts we normally associate exclusively with the composer’s work were indeed common tools for most 16th century professional performers.

And it’s just a matter of statistics: I haven’t done the maths, but the number of pieces that underwent these newly-creating techniques within the vihuela or keyboard anthologies was probably quite close to 99,9%. I would even say that if we disregard this fact, our performances would not do justice to the repertory.

4. Our Recipe

More Hispano‘s aim (and Yr a oydo is a good example of this) has to do with this active approach described above, taking care not to just play the written notes of the scores—which is today’s common practice–, but going one step further:

1. Adding another dimension to our interpretation in which we play the same game as early performers—instead of being passive readers—using some of their same tools and resources.
2. Creating new melodic phrases, improvised solos, nuances and agogics, never planned in advance, but spontaneously created as a way of punctuating the musicians’ dialogue on stage.
3. Playing with open structures that will resolve unpredictably during the course of the performance on stage–or during the recording–, taking us on new and unsuspected paths.

Our unique approach to Renaissance music could be summarized in an extremely unusual proposition within the field of early music performance: the fully improvised performance of virtually all the pieces included in our programs.

So one of our main aims is to show that this creative aspect, at least in the repertoire of the Renaissance and Baroque, is not only a possibility or a permission, but almost always an inescapable duty of the professional performers: something that is expected of them, distinguishes them and endows them with a clear and marked individuality that makes their interpretations unique while allowing them to develop their own personal non-transferable language… This is exactly what we find in the many ornamental treatises of the 16th and 17th century but what is often lacking in today’s interpretations of this repertoire.

5. The Result

Nowadays, with a varying degree of success, historical repertoires are often approached from a present-day point of view. These present-day tendencies try to modernise the historical repertoire by only adding current musical elements.

More Hispano’s proposal is different.

Contrary to this, we opt for a perhaps more arduous task: to recover the art of improvisation by basing it only on the encoded material in the numerous early publications.

It is difficult to say if this process can be considered early or modern since the material being used is definitely old, but everything that we now believe is inherently modern, by definition. So it is probably worth taking into account that the so-called early music wasn’t really early at the time of its creation.

What we can be sure about is that this kind of approach has hardly been heard by present audiences nor been brought to concert halls.

6. Bye Bye Standards

Yr a oydo is our second recording after eleven years of recording silence. Eleven years of unceasing concert activity in which we have experimented, matured and put into practice ideas, concepts and all the experiences and reflection absorbed during these years.

But if I mention this, it’s only because I consider the change of direction we’ve made with regard to the first album—and with regard to current standards—to be significant. The repertoire has not been chosen according to any composer, style, period or country, nor according to the interpreters themselves (and even less by taking into account any anniversaries or commemorations—despite the lucrative possibilities they use to be accompanied with these days—), but according to what we wanted to show and what we could do with it.
It is in this context that improvisation comes into play.

Yr a oydo recording. Seville, April 2009.

7. Improvisation: A Path Without Way Back

In this recording, for better or for worse, we have at times—freely and consciously—given up one of the parameters of current recording practice: the control and perfection of each and every note. But we have gained elsewhere:

Improvisation brings a range of ingredients to the musical performance—among others a free expression, a rare and amazing ability to communicate with the audience, the underlying risk of—but even more importantly, an opportunity for—creating. And once you try them out, they can get really addictive:

• For the musicians, because of the great possibilities and sensations they get to experience (which are impossible to renounce once you try them);
• For the listeners, as they can surely sense all these elements and as a result, they rush to incorporate them in their own catalogue of personal requirements when enjoying music.

In this way, through improvisation, the performer creates and decides what to play, providing the music with full significance and fluency—barely to be sensed when the interpretation is made exclusively from the written text—.

With the spiritedness of the so newly obtained possibility for unpredictable decision and ability to communicate directly with the listener, improvisation becomes the perfect vehicle for the performer’s expressiveness.

At the same time, improvisation enables something vital for any artist, that connects the musicians with their own period of time and that, nowadays, in the field of classical music (and early music by extension), is exclusively reserved for composers: creation.

Vicente Parrilla

The post Yr a oydo—The Liner Notes appeared first on More Hispano.

Here is the pdf file with the complete list.

Read more about this CD. This CD is currently on sale. Buy now.

But that’s not all. New York Times music critic Allan Kozinn gave Yr a oydo an enthusiastic review:

“Whereas for most period-instrument bands improvisation means judiciously adding ornaments, Mr. Parrilla and company go all out. Mr. Parrilla, on recorder, takes turns with the other instrumentalists elaborating on the composers’ melodies, often adding modal touches and varying the rhythms, much as a virtuosic jazz band would do with a group of standards.”
—The New York Times, February 17, 2011

Renowned Spanish music critic Pablo J. Vayón has written what will possibly stand as the most positive review we will get in a long time. Here are some quotes and a PDF link to the full review:

“Yr a oydo representa una de las más originales y poderosas aportaciones que haya hecho nunca un grupo español a la discografía del repertorio antiguo.
[…] Hablamos sencillamente de algunos de los más dotados músicos españoles de su generación, lo que muestran de sobra con glosas que bordean en ocasiones el límite de las posibilidades de cada instrumento.
[…] Hay aquí fantasía, imaginación, sensualidad, exuberancia, pero también una manera de hacer que invita a la reflexión sobre la auténtica naturaleza de la música.
[…] Lección sobre las posibilidades de una visión del repertorio occidental que, sin dejar de ser riguroso en informado, se aparta de los caminos más trillados del academicismo”.
—Scherzo, see pdf, June 2010

The post Yr a oydo, listed among the “Exceptional” CDs at Spanish magazine Scherzo appeared first on More Hispano.

Naturally, we are still using it and, in case you still haven’t done it, we invite you to follow us on Twitter.com/morehispano

For those who aren’t still familiar with it, here’s the complete transcription (copy-pasted, but in reverse order so that you can easily follow the story) of everything we posted there during the recording session days:

Dear Friends, we are very happy to announce that we’re finally recording our second CD in 11 years!
12:06 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

First three pieces were already recorded yesterday evening, right after the soundcheck!!
12:43 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

We’d actually like to record 2 CDs in 4 days, but it’s a very tight schedule, let’s see how fast we can go!
12:44 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

We started yesterday with the 3 pieces having the smallest setting: two recorder-lute duos (Mille Regretz and Anchor ch’e col partire)
12:54 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

And finally a quintet piece adding Raquel and Fahmi, the frottola Chi me dara piu pace by Marchetto Cara
12:55 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

Everything will have lots of embellishments (diminutions, glosas…)
12:56 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

We have to stop now, back to the recording!
12:56 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

We’re now busy with Miguel’s solo luth intro to Mille Regretz. It sounds great! http://yfrog.com/06cplnj
1:45 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via Tweetie

One more piece finished: Per dolor me bagno il viso. Raquel was amazing!
4:36 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via Tweetie

We continue at 16:30 with the first piece of the 2º CD (we’re trying to do a group CD + plus a VP & friends CD!) Let’s see…
6:25 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via web

Foliiiiiiiiiiaaaaaass!!!!!
8:21 AM Apr 27th, 2009 via Tweetie

It was a hard day! The Folias were the first group piece, and it was a bit hard to find the right sound in the church! But it’s done!
3:56 PM Apr 27th, 2009 via Tweetie

We go for the cover photos today!! (but still many pieces to be recorded)
12:29 AM Apr 28th, 2009 via web

Setting up for the photoshoot!!! http://yfrog.com/ek3epj
2:14 AM Apr 28th, 2009 via Tweetie

We got the cover photos! http://yfrog.com/4zi7zj
4:40 AM Apr 28th, 2009 via Tweetie

We are now recording Guardame las vacas!
7:52 AM Apr 28th, 2009 via Tweetie

We got the vacas! http://yfrog.com/2j7trj
10:14 AM Apr 28th, 2009 via Tweetie

Let’s go now for the Passacaglia…
10:15 AM Apr 28th, 2009 via Tweetie

Vocal Passacaglia was great!! Let’s see now the instrumental one!
11:26 AM Apr 28th, 2009 via Tweetie

Instrumental Passacaglia was… wild
3:19 PM Apr 28th, 2009 via Tweetie

Today’s menu is for everybody’s taste: Breakfast: Ciaccona + Passamezzo moderno
4:30 AM Apr 29th, 2009 via Tweetie

We continue with two digestives after lunch: Verdelot’s Madonna per voi ardo + Igno soave
7:50 AM Apr 29th, 2009 via Tweetie

Ave Maris Stella (Raquel & Vicente duo) is ready!! We also did the instrumental diminutions of Madonna per voi ardo…
12:39 PM Apr 29th, 2009 via Tweetie

Now busy with Igno soave’s instrumental diminutions!!
12:41 PM Apr 29th, 2009 via Tweetie

Last recording day!
2:51 AM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

We just finished with the Galliard and are about starting with Conde Claros!
2:53 AM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

More Hispano’s recording finished with Je suis une jeune fillette! Now only a few pieces left from the 2nd ‘solo’ CD!
6:51 AM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

Just finished with Doulce Memoire diminutions…
8:53 AM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

De tous biens playne is ready! Now busy with Recercada IV
10:43 AM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

We just took a break and are now ready for La Monica’s glossas
11:43 AM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

We finished with a quiet improvisation on the Passacaglia bass: tenor recorder, tiorba and percussion…
1:52 PM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

It was a looooong day! But we DID record 2 CDs in four days! Hope we can show the results soon!! We’ll let everybody know…
1:56 PM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

Actually, the 2 CDs took us only 3 afternoons and 2 days!!! It was a lot of work! Thanks to all musicians who participated!
3:03 PM Apr 30th, 2009 via Tweetie

Listening to the pre-master of our next CD!
8:30 AM Nov 12th, 2009 via Twitter

Very happy with our next CD’s booklet. It looks pretty nice. Thanks Jonas & Tabea!
2:23 PM Jan 25th via Tweetie

And, of course, this post could not end otherwise:

Follow us on twitter.com/morehispano!

The post The Yr a oydo recording story, as told in Twitter appeared first on More Hispano.

Recorded in April 2009 for German label Carpe Diem, Yr a oydo “represents one of the most original and powerful contributions ever made by a Spanish ensemble to Early Music discography” (Scherzo), and features an innovative program we have been working at for a few years now —having had the opportunity to play it live on numerous occasions prior to recording it, in which the main protagonist is, undoubtedly, improvisation.

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Yr a oydo (old Spanish for ‘Going by ear’) rethinks and contests the role of the modern performers of early music (who are often limited to performing just what is shown in the score), while trying to reinstate the creative side which not only belongs to their performance but, indeed, they should never omit. Yr a oydo is also an innovative project, in keeping with an extremely unusual proposition within the field of early music performance: the fully improvised performance of virtually all the pieces included in the CD.

Yr a oydo’s live performances have always been warmly received by the public—besides being cellebrated by the specialist press. Here are a few quotes:

“One of the most original and powerful spectacles on offer from Spanish early music today.”
—Scherzo

“Vuelta de tuerca a la música antigua.”
—La Nueva España, 21 de diciembre de 2008

First press—and podcast—reactions start to arrive now:

“Whereas for most period-instrument bands improvisation means judiciously adding ornaments, Mr. Parrilla and company go all out. Mr. Parrilla, on recorder, takes turns with the other instrumentalists elaborating on the composers’ melodies, often adding modal touches and varying the rhythms, much as a virtuosic jazz band would do with a group of standards.”
—The New York Times, February 17, 2011

“Yr a oydo representa una de las más originales y poderosas aportaciones que haya hecho nunca un grupo español a la discografía del repertorio antiguo. […] Hablamos sencillamente de algunos de los más dotados músicos españoles de su generación, lo que muestran de sobra con glosas que bordean en ocasiones el límite de las posibilidades de cada instrumento. […] Hay aquí fantasía, imaginación, sensualidad, exuberancia, pero también una manera de hacer que invita a la reflexión sobre la auténtica naturaleza de la música.
[…] Lección sobre las posibilidades de una visión del repertorio occidental que, sin dejar de ser riguroso en informado, se aparta de los caminos más trillados del academicismo.”
—Scherzo, see pdf, June 2010

“Una auténtica delicia y un disco indispensable para tomar el pulso a las nuevas propuestas en la interpretación de música clásica en España.”
—Pablo Velasco, Suite101, June 18th, 2010

“I was particularly impressed with More Hispano’s beautifully unfettered style of improvisation. The ensemble’s excellent performance is tightly knit and brimming over with energy, from the wonderful and unpredictable instrumental improvisation to the rapturous singing by soprano Raquel Andueza. The recording is an absolute joy to listen to.”
—Bernard Gordillo, on Harmonia Early Music’s podcast (Indiana, USA), May 28, 2010

“Un trabajo lleno de fantasía, imaginación, hondura y virtuosismo, que en directo conforma un espectáculo fascinante, con mucho de sesión de jazz, y tal y como ha quedado recogido en este disco resulta de una exuberancia, una vitalidad y una sensualidad deslumbrantes.”
—Diario de Sevilla on the release of Yr a oydo, April 10, 2010

Last Saturday, April 17th, a new CD review was published at ABCD, the culture magazine of the Spanish ABC newspaper. See page 1 and page 2.

And these are some of the first reactions from the first CD buyers:

“It’s great musicianship, really hot stuff. I would love to hear you live in a concert! Thank you very much for the CD! People say that your concert was the best at the Utrecht festival 2008, now I understand!”
—M. (Freiburg), March 3, 2010

“Una bocanada de aire fresco y necesario en el panorama que tenemos ahora en el país, rebosa frescura y se aparta de todo lo hecho hasta ahora. Enhorabuena.”
—D. (València), April 8, 2010

“I love your music-making. You must have had great pleasure in making this CD. That’s what I hear. And for me, your music is inspiring and touching.”
—J. (Amsterdam), April 19, 2010

“I was very glad to receive the long-expected CD of More Hispano!!!!!!! When I was listening to the wonderful improvisations, sitting in my garden in the spring sun, the birds also started to sing! A pity you couldn’t hear the wonderful combination of the birds and the music.”
—Jacqueline D. (Utrecht), April 26, 2010

“I was really desperate to get my hands on the disc as I had been looking at your YouTube Videos for some time. Your CD is the one that is played the most at the moment. I love the whole disc, but as I said I adore Zefiro Torna and adore your improvisation there.”
—Chris V. (Londres), April 29, 2010

“L’acabo de rebre…, és una passada! moltíssimes felicitats!!!!! M’ha encantat…”
—Eloi F. (Barcelona), April 30, 2010

“This recording exudes joy, passion, the happiness of playing together and search for Beauty! Early music grows a little more & it makes me glad!”
—Frédéric (Liége), May 11, 2010

“Solo quería decirte que me ENCANTA el disco, me lo esperaba bueno, pero no así!”
—Jorge J. (Sevilla), May 18, 2010

MORE HISPANO

Vicente Parrilla, recorders & direction
Raquel Andueza, soprano
Fahmi Alqhai, viola da gamba
Jesús Fernández, lute, theorbo and guitar
Miguel Rincón, vihuela, theorbo and guitar
Javier Núñez, harpsichord
Álvaro Garrido, percussion

Want to know more about us? You can visit our profile, read what the press says, or have a look at our photo gallery.

Downloads:

• Booklet (ENG)
• Booklet (ES)
• CD Review — Published at Diario de Sevilla on April 10th, 2010.
• HQ photos from the recording session

Buy now:

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Thanks!

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