Padre Antonio Soler

Padre Antonio Soler (1729–1783) was the foremost Spanish composer of keyboard and sacred music in the late eighteenth century. Born in Olot, Catalonia, he was trained at the celebrated Escolania of Montserrat before joining the Hieronymite order at the Monastery of El Escorial near Madrid, where he served as organist and taught music to the royal family.

A student of Domenico Scarlatti, Soler composed over 150 keyboard sonatas that rival those of his master in brilliance and invention while exploring more adventurous harmonic territory. His celebrated Fandango, with its hypnotic rhythmic drive and bold modulations, is one of the most striking keyboard works of the pre-Classical era. Soler also wrote six concertos for two organs, quintets for strings and keyboard, and an influential theory treatise, Llave de la modulación (1762).