Francisco Guerau

Nicholas Faller

Preface

Francisco Guerau, born in 1649, was a Spanish composer, singer, guitarist and priest. His
publications for Baroque guitar provide an invaluable look into the Spanish compositional style;
a tradition heavily overshadowed by the overwhelming output of French and Italian guitarists of
the time.

Materials and Methods

For this study I referenced:

1) The electronic database Oxford Music Online for biographical information relating
Guerau and his contemporaries, as well as for stylistic guidelines to the musical forms
referenced in this discussion.
2) JSTOR for reviews of modern transcriptions of Gueraus music as well as information
about the stylistic intricacies of his music.
3) Baroque Guitar in Spain and the New World by Frank Koonce for a comprehensive
outlook on some of the technical features of the Baroque guitar music of Spain in the 17 th
century.

Content

Francisco Gueraus music education began when he was admitted as cantorcico (choirboy) at
the Royal Chapel in Madrid. He quickly progressed, first becoming a cantor (adult chorister) at
the chapel and then maestro de capilla at the Colegio de Nios Cantores. Eventually, he was
made Chaplin at the Royal Chapel, making him one of the most successful Spanish guitarists of
his time.1

In 1694, Guerau published Poema harmnico compuesto de varias cifras por el temple de le
guitarra espaola. This collection of 27 compositions, Gueraus main output for the guitar, is
representative of the Spanish Baroque style at the time of its publication. Each piece is a set of
variations on popular Spanish dance forms including Jcaras, Folias and Espaoletas.2

1 Joan Parets i Serra. "Guerau, Francisco." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press, accessed October 12,
2016,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/11923.

2 Ibid.
 While Guerau was comfortable composing in a variety of popular styles, his favoured form
was undoubtedly the Passacalle. The Passacalle originated in Spain in the early 17 th century as
an improvised section of strummed music played by guitarists as a brief interlude between verses
of song.3 However, this form was quickly picked up by other significant composers, most notably
Girolamo Frescobaldi, who established the Passacalle as an independent instrumental
composition. In this new form, the Passacalle provided a set of continuous variations over an
ostinato harmonic progression.4

Gueraus compositional style differs greatly from that of his contemporaries. First, he preferred
bourdon style tuning as opposed to the re-entrant tuning that was becoming so idiomatic to
French and Italian styles. He avoided any use of campanella or rasgueado in his works,
preferring to use a style that was more closely related to that of the renaissance lute than the
baroque guitar.5

Furthermore, he was well known for his use of two characteristically Spanish types of
ornamentation, the trinos and the aleados. The trinos, which were primarily heard at cadential
points, began on the main note and oscillated twice to the upper note, resulting in a succession of
five distinct sounds. The aleados, which were often used to embellish the material in the middle
of a phrase, also began on the main note but only oscillated to the upper note once, resulting in a
succession of three notes.6

Commentary and Discussion

Because of the idiosyncrasies of his music, it is extremely difficult to compare the works and
style of Francisco Guerau to those of better known guitar composers like Robert de Vise or
Gaspar Sanz, who primarily grew up in the French or Italian tradition. By examining the
tablature of some of his music, we can see that the ornamentation, which Guerau described as the
soul of the music, (JSTOR) is extremely prevalent and almost sounds disruptive to the melodic
continuity of the thematic material. Furthermore, it is a mystery why he would neglect to use

3 Alexander Silbiger. "Passacaglia." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press, accessed October 12,
2016,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/21024.

4 Ibid

5 Tyler, James. "Francisco Guerau's Guitar Music." Early Music 30, no. 2 (2002): 296-
97. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/stable/3519261.

6 Koonce, Frank. The Baroque guitar in Spain and the New World. Pacific, MO: Mel
Bay, 2006. 15
campanella, and rasgueado, as the music sounds somber and dry without these techniques. The
result is a beautiful melody in an interesting nationalistic form that is held back by a refusal to
compose to the capabilities of the instrument.

Despite these negative traits, Gueraus compositions are extremely valuable in providing a
glimpse into the relatively unknown Spanish style. Furthermore, he was held in high regard by
other musicians of his time, especially Santiago de Murcia, which allows us to see his influence
in the styles of better known performers and retrace the development of Spanish guitar music
through the 16th century.

Conclusion

Francisco Gueraus ouput for the Baroque guitar offers a fascinating look into the stylistic
intricacies of the Spanish baroque tradition. Despite his limited use of idiomatic guitar
techniques, Gueraus compositions are still a valuable part of the guitar repertoire, not only for
performance but for the insights they provide.
 Bibliography

Alexander Silbiger. "Passacaglia." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music

Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 12,
2016,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music
/21024.

Joan Parets i Serra. "Guerau, Francisco." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press, accessed October 12,
2016,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/11923.

Koonce, Frank. The Baroque guitar in Spain and the New World. Pacific, MO:
Mel Bay, 2006.

Strizich, Robert. Notes 29, no. 2 (1972): 327-28.

Tyler, James. "Francisco Guerau's Guitar Music." Early Music 30, no. 2 (2002):
296-97. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/stable/3519261.