De Murcia, who died in 1732, was the giant of the Spanish baroque guitar, who synthesized popular and art music and created a large body of work, some of which was written down and is among the few published works for this instrument and its music, which had originated in Spain and captivated Europe around 1600. De Murcia was Guitar Master to the Queen at the Spanish court, much as Domenico Scarlatti was the harpsichord master a few years later to the next Queen. (In fact, in his fascinating notes, guitarist Carter called Scarlatti the greatest of all Spanish baroque guitarists – tho he was Italian and a harpsichordist.)
The baroque guitar is a fragile instrument with a quieter and more mellow sound than a contemporary guitar – more like the lute. It has a range of just a bit over two octaves. Carter has an accompanist on viol on five of the 15 selections here, but basically this is solo guitar music. It includes folk song arrangements from Spain, Africa and even the New World, and melodies from such composers as Corelli. He provides notes on each of the selections, including tuning details. The sound he produces may be small and subtle but it is often full of passion and surpassing beauty and although it may seem overkill to use hi-res res. 5.1 surround for this, the Linn engineering does easily place Carter and his baroque guitar right in your listening room.
– John Sunier
