Folk Music: Spanish

Spaanse Volksmuziek

Thinking about Spanish folk music, many people think of Flamenco. That is not completely correct. It is true, Flamenco includes many traditional and provide the typical Spanish sound that everyone in the world will recognize. Many melodies, however, are no part of Flamenco. Here you will find a few examples for guitar duo.

Click the title for playback and sheet music:

Sheet music

An Alegrias is a dance form from the Spanish Flamenco music, this piece is composed by Daniel Fortea.

We arranged this piece from a solo to a duo on the occasion of a Spanish night, we were invited to play for. A very useful experience, the audience was enjoying itself quite well: we could hardly make ourselves heard with even 2 x 100 Watts amplification. Anyway, we have learned something from an interesting lecture on Gaudi that evening (which was equally disturbed by the good mood of some of the participants). The information came in handy when I visited Barcelona many years later.

Sheet music

A Soleares is a dance form from the Spanish Flamenco music, this piece is composed by Daniel Fortea.

We arranged this piece from a solo to a duo on the occasion of a Spanish night, we were invited to play for. A very useful experience, the audience was enjoying itself quite well: we could hardly make ourselves heard with even 2 x 100 Watts amplification. Anyway, we have learned something from an interesting lecture on Gaudi that evening (which was equally disturbed by the good mood of some of the participants). The information came in handy when I visited Barcelona many years later.

Sheet music

A cradle song from the island of Mallorca, arranged by the Spanish composer Bartolome Calatuyud (1882 - 1973). It is a re-arrangement of this piece, I made it when I was playing together with a flautist. It sounds well as a guitar duo too.

If you want to play this music: it belongs to a collection titled El Amor y la Muerte, available with Muziekuitgeverij Van Teeseling, number VT379

Sheet music

Bartolome Catalayud (1882-1973) is the original composer of this Spanish dance. He was a Mallorcan guitarist and composer, a contemporary of Llobet and Segovia. Besides more complex works, he composed a large quantity of more simple works, based on Spanish dance- and song themes.

Pasodoblillo was my first piece when I started to study with Thea van der Meer, about 41 years ago. I made it a guitar duo arrangement, because we needed some extra music to embellish a dinner with lecture about the Spanish architect Gaudi. A pleasant combination! With the little detail that the audience made so much noise during playing (and eating) that two 100 Watts Trace Elliot Acoustic amplifiers were insufficient to make things heard.

This is an arrangement of a Catalan folk song by the Spanish guitarist/composer Bartolome Calatuyud (1882-1973). A joyful song about vague promises.

If you like to play this music: the song belongs to the collection El Amor y La Muerte, available with Muziekuitgeverij Van Teeseling, number VT379.

Sheet music

This is an arrangement of a movement from Suite Folklore by Marc Andes. This suite is slightly modern, but still quite folksy, and enjoyable to play. The waltz appeared fun for two guitars.