“When I was living in Paris towards the end of the 1980s, I began to delve into the fascinating legacy of the Spanish masters of the vihuela. Ever since, Luys de Narváez has remained a passion of mine, never failing to move me with the mystical nature of his music and the crystal clarity of his discourse.”

For his ECM debut Pablo Márquez has chosen 17 pieces from the 40 contained in the six books that Narváez published in Valladolid in 1538, Los seys libros del Delphin de musica de cifra para tañer vihuela. It was one of the first collections of tablatures that appeared all over Europe after the popularisation of printing and the fashion for instruments whose strings were plucked before the appearance of the modern guitar: the lute, and the vihuela which was especially prized in Spain. Little is known about its composer Luys de Narváez. Born in Granada in about 1500 (living until after 1555), he became a court musician, latterly in the service of King Philip II. This gave him the opportunity to travel widely between Flanders and Italy, in the footsteps of many Renaissance artists. Although he also wrote vocal pieces, what is certain is that Luys was one of the great vihuela players of the time, known for his mastery in the art of variations on well-known tunes – His Delphin collection includes the first known variations in the history of music and many instrumental ‘Italian’ fantasias. He is best known for adapting the beautiful four-part song by Josquin, Mille Regretz.

Pablo Márquez was born in 1967 in Argentina where his guitar teachers included Eduardo Fernández. He later studied early music with Javier Hinojosa in Europe. At 20 he came to international attention in prestigious contests in Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Geneva and Munich, but it was mostly through meeting some remarkable musicians that his career was launched. Hopkinson Smith said “Pablo Márquez embraces the art of the past and the present with understanding and passion”, György Sebök found him “a profound musician”, Luciano Berio appreciated “his marvellous playing”. He has played throughout the American continent, Europe and Japan, with many orchestras and festivals. His partners in chamber music are Mario Caroli, Anja Lechner, Dino Saluzzi and the Rosamunde Quartet. He has premiered many pieces, worked with Berio, Kurtág and Kagel and is now Professor at the Musik-Akademie of Basel.