Biography
Born to noble Spanish parents and blind from birth, Antonio studied both organ playing and the craft of composition. Among Spanish keyboard players he ranked as one of the most accomplished, and his pieces distilled the essential character of the art. His output embraced tientos, or fantasies, together with variation cycles known as diferencias, as well as dances, canons, hymns, and versos. Even across these contrasting genres, the musical architecture in his scores remained varied, inventive, distinctive, and exacting. In the tientos he frequently returned to the opening motif in later thematic statements, while, in shaping his diferencias, he relocated the cantus firmus among different voices.