"Arada y Danza" from Suite Castellana – Torroba | 1981 Manuel Contreras Demo by David Trevors

Two movements from Federico Moreno Torroba's Suite Castellana performed on a 1981 Manuel Contreras classical guitar — featuring a Barbera Transducer pickup. Full description at www.millvalleyguitars.com. Please like and subscribe for more performances and demos of exceptional handmade instruments. About the maker: Manuel Contreras (1928–1994) is one of the great names in the history of the Madrid school of guitar making. A native of Madrid who developed exceptional woodworking and cabinetry skills from a young age, his talent caught the attention of José Ramírez III, who invited him to apprentice in his workshop in 1959. Within three years he had developed his craft sufficiently to set up as an independent guitar maker in Madrid at number 80 Calle Mayor — a location that remained the home of the Contreras workshop for decades. Almost from the beginning, Contreras gained a reputation as one of the more creative and inventive luthiers in the Spanish tradition. His first major innovation was the "Double Top" model, introduced in 1974 after years of experimentation — a design aimed at improving sound, volume, and projection that achieved rapid and wide acceptance in the classical guitar world. He went on to develop the Harp Guitar, the Alto Guitar, the Carlevaro model, and the Resonance Back system — a body of innovation that places him among the most forward-thinking luthiers of his era. His son Pablo Manuel Contreras joined the workshop in 1986, and together they defined a pivotal era in modern Spanish guitar making. The 1981 instrument heard here comes from the heart of Contreras's most productive and celebrated period — a concert-quality guitar with the characteristic warmth, balance, and responsiveness of the Madrid school at its finest. About the Pickup: This guitar is fitted with a Barbera Transducer Soloist pickup — one of the most respected amplification solutions available for classical guitar. Unlike conventional undersaddle pickups that depend on compression between the saddle and bridge slot, the Barbera Soloist is a replacement saddle with six individual transducer elements built directly into it, each factory-adjusted for equal output across all six strings. Because the instrument's surface is not sensitized microphonically, common surface noises are not amplified, giving the system impressively high feedback resistance and an exceptionally clear, natural image of the instrument's acoustic voice. The result is a passive, high-output system that allows the guitar to be plugged directly into a PA or amplifier while preserving the tonal character and dynamic range of the acoustic instrument — ideal for live performance and recording alike. About the music: The program draws from Suite Castellana by Federico Moreno Torroba (1891–1982) — one of the most beloved works in the classical guitar repertoire and a cornerstone of the Spanish guitar tradition. Torroba was a Spanish composer, conductor, and theatrical impresario who became one of the leading 20th-century composers for the classical guitar, writing many of his guitar works in close collaboration with Andrés Segovia, who edited and premiered them. Suite Castellana was composed in 1926 and consists of three movements: Fandanguillo, Arada, and Danza. Arada — the second movement — takes its name from the Spanish word for plowing, evoking the measured, deliberate rhythm of agricultural work on the Castilian plain. It is meditative and unhurried, with a modal quality that roots the listener firmly in the Spanish countryside. Danza — the third movement — brings the suite to a vivid close. Bright, rhythmically propulsive, and unmistakably Spanish in character, it showcases the guitar's color and dynamic range in a way that makes it one of Torroba's most frequently performed pieces. . . . @millvalleyguitars #classicalguitar #manuelcontreras #madridschool #spanishguitar #torroba #suitecastellana #arada #danza #federicomorenottorroba #barberatransducer #barberasaddle #classicalguitarpickup #amplifiedguitar #vintageclassicalguitar #millvalleyguitars #nylonstringguitar