Iberian Music from the 15th to the 18th Century — An Independent Tradition: Workshop at the Johann Joseph Fux Conservatory Graz

An Underestimated Tradition

The Iberian Peninsula produced, over three centuries, a musical tradition of unparalleled independence, harmonic boldness, and genre-historical sophistication — one that remains underestimated in international concert and academic life to this day. From 28 to 30 June 2026, I had the privilege of leading a course and lecture on Spanish music from the 15th to the 18th century at the Johann Joseph Fux Conservatory in Graz: three intensive days at harpsichord, organ, and clavichord, as well as in ensemble practice.

A methodological note: Iberian music cannot be meaningfully read through the lens of German or Italian music history. It follows its own grammar — its own logic of modality, dissonance, form, and timbre — which must first be understood before it can be performed.

I. Renaissance and the Siglo de Oro

Mateo Flecha el Viejo (1481–1553) opened the course with his key genre: the Ensalada. This multilayered collage form unites different linguistic registers, layers of quotation, and scenic-dramatic elements into a whole that resists any simple categorisation — and that demands a high degree of flexibility and timbral richness in ensemble practice.

Diego Ortiz (ca. 1510–ca. 1570), with his Trattado de Glosas (Rome 1553), represents the systematic union of diminution theory and improvised practice. The Recercadas on well-known tenores are not merely exercises, but models for a dialogic music-making between soloist and continuo — diminution as an independent compositional mode of thinking, not as decoration.

Antonio de Cabezón (1510–1566) is the foundation of Iberian keyboard music. His posthumously published Obras de música para tecla, arpa y vihuela (Madrid 1578) — 275 pieces, simultaneously a liturgical book, pedagogical work, and virtuoso repertoire — demonstrate a masterful command of counterpoint. The Diferencias develop melodic substance through variation without losing it; the Pavana con su Glosa on the Folia harmonic progression demonstrates how a simple harmonic formula can become a complex musical statement through contrapuntal work. Central to performance practice is the question of articulation: Cabezón’s music thinks in lines and cadential hierarchies.

“Also curious instrumentalists will be able to profit from this book, by seeing inventions of glosses/diminutions treated truthfully upon the composed material, and by seeing the freedom that each voice has, without prejudice to the other parts. And this they will find in many motets, songs, and fauxbourdons that they play: with little difficulty they will be able to transcribe this tablature into canto de órgano (that is, into the usual polyphonic notation or organ-score notation).”

Tomás de Santa María († 1570) provides the theoretical foundation for this practice with the Arte de tañer fantasía (Valladolid 1565). His work treats ornamentation (redobles, quiebros, glosas), fingering technique, and the logic of improvisation as an interconnected system — composition and improvisation not as opposites, but as two sides of the same practice.

II. Spanish Baroque: Dissonance as Structure

Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia (1561–1627), as the leading representative of the Aragón school, stands at the threshold between Renaissance and Baroque. His Tientos de medio registro exploit the technical peculiarity of the Iberian organ — the independent registration of the two halves of the manual — to create a quasi-concertante texture: soloist against accompaniment, timbral contrast as a structural principle. The Tiento de falsas de quarto tono introduced us to the Iberian dissonance idiom: falsas — chromatically conditioned dissonances treated contrary to the rules of strict counterpoint — are not a stylistic error, but an independent means of expression.

Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1584–1654) takes this logic furthest. His Libro de tientos y discursos (Alcalá 1626) is simultaneously a collection of compositions and a theoretical treatise. Arauxo’s harmony moves systematically at the boundaries of the modal-tonal system; his medio registro pieces distribute the contrapuntal structure between soloist and accompaniment, which becomes immediately audible in ensemble. His descriptions preceding each tiento constitute one of the most precise performance-practice sources of the Iberian Baroque.

“There follows the very celebrated song ‘Susana’, set in glosses/ornaments, with thirty-two ‘numbers’ per beat, re and sol, on delasolrre from the diatonic genus. In this holy Church of Seville there was a sackbut player named Gregorio de Lozoya, a man memorable in learning, and especially distinguished in ornamenting this instrument with glosses; and a critic said of him that he had ruined many sackbut players of his time, because in imitating him in ornamenting, they revealed the faults they had concealed by keeping silent — that is, by playing plainly. I would not wish the same to happen to my organists with these ornamented works and with the very difficult ones: that, by forcing strength out of weakness in attempting them, they might grow only weaker, losing touch, clarity, and other good qualities — if indeed they possess them. And so I advise (if they lack the natural ability and knowledge required) that they leave such pieces to those who have it, and take up those more easily performed.”
— Francisco Correa de Arauxo (Facultad orgánica, 1626, p. 167)

Pablo Bruna (1611–1679) develops in his Tientos de falsas a dissonance idiom unparalleled in 17th-century European music. Dissonant chord progressions are continued sequentially rather than resolved — the tension transforms itself instead of releasing. The performance-practice question that Bruna’s music poses is not an abstract one: how much friction can a sound bear? The answer must be tested at a concrete instrument, in a concrete acoustic space.

Juan Cabanilles (1644–1712) is the culmination of this tradition. The oft-invoked comparison with Bach explains little; more important is Cabanilles as the synthesis of a centuries-long tiento logic: modal thinking, the Aragón dissonance idiom, register dramaturgy, and sequential chromaticism combine into a grammar with its own, non-German logic. His Passacalles, Folías, and Batallas display the full breadth of Iberian keyboard art.

III. Cifra Culture: Guitar and Harp

The Baroque guitar and the harp occupy an independent position in the Iberian tradition — not as accompanying instruments, but as fully-fledged art instruments with a differentiated literature. The cifra notation (tablature) connects this world: it enables the rapid transmission of repertoire, but conceals the harmonic structure behind a purely practical surface — a challenge for the modern musician.

Gaspar Sanz (1640–1710), with his Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española (Zaragoza 1674), is the standard source for Spanish guitar idiom. His dance movements — Canarios, Folías, Zarabandas — are ideal starting points for improvised ornamentation and ensemble arrangements. Francisco Guerau (1649–1722) represents a compositionally highly reflective guitar music; his Poema harmónico (Madrid 1694), with its systematic series of Passacalles in various keys, is far more than dance accompaniment. Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz (fl. 1677) unites guitar and harp in his Luz y norte musical as a shared pedagogical project — a transfer source between court, salon, and liturgical practice.

IV. High Baroque: Scarlatti, Soler, and López

Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) cannot be understood without his Iberian context. After a decade at the Portuguese court, he came to Spain in 1729 and wrote the greater part of his over 550 sonatas — works whose partly percussive rhythmic energy, harmonic boldness, and guitar-like sound effects (rasgueos, strumming patterns) refer directly to the Iberian folk music tradition. The sonatas treated in the course — K. 492, K. 175, K. 107, K. 105, and K. 132 — display the full range: from dance-like energy to cantabile inwardness.

Antonio Soler (1729–1783), monk at the Escorial and pupil of Scarlatti, takes this tradition in his own direction. His sonatas — among them the harmonically bold C-sharp minor Sonata R. 21 and the luminous F-sharp major Sonata R. 90 — experiment with more complex structures and extend the modal grammar in new ways. His best-known work, the Fandango, embodies this vivid rhythmic vitality.

Félix Máximo López rounds off the 18th century: his theoretical writings on accompaniment and organ practice, as well as his compositional output, show how alive this tradition remained into the late 18th century.

V. Core Questions of Performance Practice

Instrument and repertoire: The clavichord, with its direct key control, is the instrument of intimacy and differentiated expression, but unsuited to larger spaces. The harpsichord stands at the centre of the course as a solo instrument and for ensemble music, as well as for Scarlatti’s rhythmically percussive style. The organ is the instrument of the cathedral: Tientos de medio registro and Versos are inconceivable without its specific registration possibilities.

Tuning: Iberian music of the 16th and 17th centuries was not written for equal temperament. In meantone tuning, pure thirds sound beautiful — but Arauxo’s and Bruna’s chromaticism pushes against the limits of the system. This is no coincidence: this music is written at the boundaries, and historical tuning makes those boundaries audible.

Improvisation and notation: Iberian music of the 15th to 17th centuries is not conceived as a fully fixed work. Diminution, ornamentation, registration, and tempo shaping are part of a living practice that cannot be fully notated — and that must be informed by a deep understanding of style, theory, and historical practice.

Three Intensive Days

Three intensive days at the Johann Joseph Fux Conservatory in Graz have shown how rich and multifaceted the Iberian musical tradition is — and how much there is still to discover. From Flecha and Ortiz through Cabezón, Santa María, and Arauxo to Scarlatti and Soler: every work opens new perspectives on a music that is still heard far too rarely on the concert stage.

I warmly thank the Conservatory for the invitation, and all participants for their curiosity and openness towards a repertoire that demands its own grammar — and that rewards this effort with extraordinary sonic and intellectual depth.

Further Sources

• Tomás de Santa María : Arte de tañer fantasía (Valladolid 1565)
• Diego Ortiz : Trattado de Glosas (Rome 1553)
• Francisco Correa de Arauxo : Libro de tientos y discursos (Alcalá 1626)
• Gaspar Sanz : Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española (Zaragoza 1674)
• Antonio Soler : Llave de la Modulación, y Antigüedades de la Música (Madrid: Joachín Ibarra, 1772)
• Félix Máximo López : Reglas Generales, ò Escue.la de Acompañar al Organo, ò Clave. Primeram
• Félix Máximo López : Escuela Órgánica,(1799)