Manuel Ponce - Sonata for Guitar and Harpsichord | BI/STRUMENTAL

BI/STRUMENTAL
Sound and Video - Jakub Klimeš
Recorded on the 6th December 2020 at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague
The Sonata for Guitar and Harpsichord by Manuel Ponce is one of the earliest compositions featuring the harpsichord as chamber music instrument of an equal importance and also the first combining it with the guitar. The piece was born in 1926 in Paris surrounded by an immensely rich musical environment of the beginning of the 20th-century.
Ponce, coming from Mexico studied piano in Berlin with a Liszt-pupil, later went to Paris to study composition with Paul Dukas, in the same class with Joaquín Rodrigo and Heitor Villa-Lobos. In Paris, he must have met with the revival harpsichord movement which made him compose this sonata for Segovia. Ponce could also have heard the first modern harpsichord concerto by Manuel de Falla that time, but Poulenc's Concert champêtre was still not published by that time.
Segovia wrote a letter to Ponce in 1926 mentioning the piece:
"I have begun to study the Sonata for Harpsichord and Guitar… [Raymond] Moulaert [a well-known Belgian pianist, composer, music critic, and teacher] has heard your works and has been truly surprised and enthusiastic . . . he has taken the Sonata for Harpsichord and Guitar to his room and has studied it for long periods. . . .Yesterday he picked-up a pen and wrote to the piano teacher at the Brussels Conservatory, who is an enthusiastic musician, telling him to reserve a date around the 16th of December to take part, as harpsichordist, in the presentation of your work. It will thus be played in Brussels before Paris, which, as I believe, is undoubtedly an advantage. Moulaert will speak to his friends, and the climate preceding the hearing will be an interesting one."
Unfortunately, there is no record of any premieres in either cities, but Later Segovia says, he played the piece with José Iturbi, a Landowska-student.
In 1940, Ponce gifts two of his students with another manuscript of the piece:
“To my dear friend Chucho Silva and his esteemed future companion Amanda Cuervo, very affectionately, hoping to hear you both play this sonata soon. Manuel M. Ponce, Mexico, Dec. 14, 1940.”
According to Silva, Ponce suggested placing a large strip of paper over the strings of the piano in order to imitate a little the effect of the harpsichord.
The Sonata for Guitar and Harpsichord is the first known modern piece written for this combination. The blending of the sound of these two instruments work absolutely well and the music is highly idiomatic for both instruments. Ponce gained considerable experience in writing for the guitar by working with Segovia, and by applying similar tools in the texture of the harpsichord part, Ponce succeeded in creating a coherency and a wonderful balance between the guitar and the harpsichord.
Regarding the stylistic diversity, the piece bears several neo-baroque traits, such as the use of imitation, rhythmical elements, and contrapuntal writing. Typical guitar-like clichés can also be found both rhythmically and harmonically, and the impact of the French impressionism and the jazz are also undeniable. More melodious, more romantic nuances also appear here and there - Ponce was, in fact, accused by Bossi in 1905 that he writes in an 1830 style.
Considering all the stylistic elements mentioned above, the surprising combination of the guitar and the harpsichord does not seem so surprising after all, on the contrary; Ponce seems to succeed in exploiting the possibilities of the harpsichord and understanding the instrumental idiom of it.
BI/STRUMENTAL was formed by Péter Muhari and Antonio Peršak in 2021 with the goal of performing music written for the unusual combination of the guitar and the harpsichord. Commissioning new music is also in their center of attention.
In 2016 Antonio Peršak moved to the UK to continue his musical education in Manchester where he finished three years of his undergraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Craig Ogden and continued his education in the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague where he is currently studying with Zoran Dukić. Although his studies are very much focused on contemporary music, Antonio is also experienced in a wide range of other styles as an electric guitarist and continues his membership of the "SpaceShip" contemporary music ensemble.
Péter Muhari obtained his bachelor degree in harpsichord performance in 2016 under tutelage of Borbála Dobozy. At the moment we studies fortepiano performance with Petra Somlai and Bart van Oort, and harpsichord performance with Fabio Bonizzoni in the early music department of the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. Péter participated in various masterclasses held by Andreas Staier, Lajos Rovátkay and Nicholas Parle. On the harpsichord he plays J. S. Bach's music and 20th-century repertoire the most, and on the fortepiano he is performing music from the classical and early romantic era.