Padre Antonio Soler, Six Concerti for two keyboard instruments
Joseph Payne & Anthony Newman organs & harpsichords
Released 1968 by Turnabout TV 34136 S
Recorded September 1966 in the Passionist Monastry Church of Saint Gabriel in Boston (Father Edward Hennessey, C.P. Pastor)
The four instruments were situated in front of the High Altar and microphone placement remained the same throughout the recording sessions.
The harpsichords were built by Eric Herz, the positive organs were built by Fritz Noack

Side I
Concerto No. I in C Major (Organ and Harpsichord) (9’21)
00:00 Andante
04:32 Minué
Concerto No. 5 in A Major (Two Organs) (7’54)
09:25 Cantabile
12:22 Minué
Concerto No. 6 in D Major (Two Harpsichords) (10’38)
17:20 Allegro
21:13 Andante
27:19 Minué
Concerto No. 3 in G Major (Organ and Harpsichord) (4’45)
28:02 beginning Andantino

Side II
Concerto No. 3 in G Major (Organ and Harpsichord) (5’43) conclusion
32:46 Movement II Minué
Concerto No. 4 in F Major (Two Organs) (10’35)
38:39 Afectuoso
42:27 Andante non Largo
47:24 Minué
Concerto No. 2 in A Minor (Two Harpsichords) (16’42)
49:10 Andante
55:10 Allegro
59:30 Tempo de Minué

JOSEPH PAYNE was born in North China, the son
of a British missionary to Mongolia. Educated in England,
Switzerland and the U.S., he was one of the last
pupils of Wanda Landowska. He has toured extensively
in this country, Canada, and in Europe, including
broadcasts for Voice of America and CBC. Presently,
he is. music director at Emmanuel Episcopal
Church in Boston, and a member of the Boston University
faculty.
ANTHONY NEWMAN is a native of Los Angeles
where his first teachers were Richard Keys Biggs and
Will Garroway. He won first prize in composition at
the International Competition in Nice in 1964, where
he also studied organ with Pierre Cochereau. He holds
degrees from the Mannes College of Music, and Harvard,
and has completed a doctorate in organ at Boston
University. Subsequent composition study has been
with Luciano Berio.

Largely due to the efforts of the distinguished
musician-musicologist Santiago Kastner, the works
of the Catalan composer Antonio Soler emerge from
a position of comparative obscurity to that of increasing
popularity among the repertories of harpsichordists,
organists, and even pianists. At Kastner’s instigation,
the Spanish Musicological Institute in Barcelona
commenced the complete publication of Soler and,
initially, his works for keyboard instruments
This resurgence of interest is none too soon. Far
too many a music student has concerned himself with
“textbook” particulars surrounding third-rate composers
such as Alberti and Durante – though nonetheless
significant in the final convolutions of a distinctive
national keyboard style. The Soler problem
is a commonly pathetic one to be sure : instantly overshadowed
by a Scarlatti genius, never the inventor of
a particular technical device, and, consequently, ignored
by latter day histories

#EricHerz #AntonyNewman #JosephPayne