Antonio Soler

The Spanish late baroque composer Antonio Soler was most commonly known as Padre ('Father', in the religious sense) Antonio Soler. At the age of 23 he was part of the catholic communion after which he spent his life as monk in a monastery near El Escorial for 31 years. Each day, he spent 20 hours praying, meditating and working on the field - living a simple and discrete life. Yet, in this period he produced over 500 works, among which 150 sonatas for keyboard.  Padre Soler's best known works are his sonatas, which are akin to the sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (with whom Soler might have studied). However, Soler often uses a more varied form, with sonatas consisting of three or four parts. At the start of the 20th century, Samuel Rubio cataloged Soler's works giving each work an 'R number'.  His Six Concertos for Two Organs are still regurlarly recorded and performed as well, but the authenticity of the famous Fandango, which was attributed to Soler, is being disputed.