# Sebastian de Albero has arrived on youtube!



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

A good friend of mine, has taken a large amount of time and effort in compiling an edition of 30 Sonatas by Sebastian de Albero(1722-1756). His channel has been on youtube since 2008, where he has uploaded works of many different composers from Gibbons to Scriabin, performed by himself on piano, harpsichord, multiple clavichords, and a special clavicytherium built by Steven Sorli.

He hadn't posted anything for a very long time, and is now starting to serve up Albero sonatas up almost daily on his harpsichord. So far, 6 out of 30 are up. These are wonderful works of a composer with his own voice, contemporaneous to Scarlatti. Wonderfully played too.

Please enjoy and learn!

This one is my favorite so far:


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Thanks for the posting, Clavichorder! Make me very unhappy that the sound is out in my computer right now.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

In order to keep this thread on the surface for a time, I'll post a few videos individually with some comments. I encourage all who come across this thread to give these short sonatas a listen. If you like Scarlatti you will very likely not be disappointed. Albero is not as virtuosic, but certainly as harmonically rough and adventurous though still gemlike in his concision. His more famous(as of today and then too, probably) Spanish contemporary, *Soler*, is in some ways more developed but generally less pithy and interesting to me, with exceptions.

About these 30 sonatas: they are all in pairs, similar to many Scarlatti sonatas in that regard. There are also two 'fugues' in this set, which are a little different than the other 28 pieces. It is said that Albero was a copyist for some of Scarlatti's sonatas too. He seems to have absorbed some good concepts from that to integrate into his compositional process. All these are in binary form. They make for brilliant and unusual studies of form and harmony.

Enjoy this ostensibly tamer G minor sonata and the spiky quirks that lie within it's relatively smoother structure(as opposed to the F major above).


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Another delightful, charming and witty Albero sonata, this one is full of giddy energy.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

KenOC said:


> Thanks for the posting, Clavichorder! Make me very unhappy that the sound is out in my computer right now.


Mine is switching sound off instantly, whilst trying second time around.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Pugg said:


> Mine is switching sound off instantly, whilst trying second time around.


Is this sarcasm any reflection of listening to the music?

I mean, if so that just doesn't compute for me. Because these sonatas are really good.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

My sound is back! These are nice companions to the Scarlatti sonatas. I really like these.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

The harpsichord is a contentious instrument for a lot of people, not for me, but many seem to look upon it and similar instruments with considerable disdain. To my ear there's nothing that can bring baroque keyboard music to life like a harpsichord. Scarlatti on a piano? No thank you!

These videos perhaps don't have the best sound quality, but the performances have piqued my interest in Albero even if sometimes they aren't all that sharp. The music seems to slip from under Whitney's fingers at times as he struggles to keep up the intense pace he sets for himself, perhaps if he would attempt to re-record with slightly more relaxed and steady tempi these would be even better. But there are still moments of beauty, like the gorgeous rallentando beginning around 3:06 in the _Sonata No. 12 in D major_.

Thanks for sharing, clavi.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

clavichorder said:


> Is this sarcasm any reflection of listening to the music?
> 
> I mean, if so that just doesn't compute for me. Because these sonatas are really good.


Nothing against the music, on the contrary, the playing is annoying me .


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