The Sonatina Meridional is the most explicitly Spanish work in Manuel Ponce's guitar output — a three-movement "southern sonatina" full of Andalusian light, Phrygian modal colour and folk song. It was the last solo guitar piece Ponce wrote for Andrés Segovia, and the capstone of their twenty-year collaboration.
Origins
Around 1930, Segovia wrote to Ponce from Paris: "Why don't you write a sonatina — not a sonata — of distinctly Spanish character?" Ponce, then studying with Paul Dukas at the Paris Conservatoire, completed the work in January 1932. He premiered it at the end of May that year. It was published in 1939 in Segovia's edition — the text that most guitarists still use today.
The Movements
I. Campo (Countryside) — Opens in D major with a fast, plucked introduction, then unfolds in loose sonata form. The second theme quotes a real Castilian folk song, En lo alto de aquella montaña — a children's song from Valladolid — first in A major, then a semitone higher in a dreamlike più lento. The Phrygian mode colours the harmony throughout, evoking an open Andalusian landscape. The climactic passages are demanding even for advanced players.
II. Copla (Song) — A slow ABA movement of bittersweet, introspective character, with hemiola, impressionistic harmonics and an interplay between 6/8 and 3/4 metre.
III. Fiesta (Festival) — A fast, rhythmically driven finale, festive and celebratory, in which the Phrygian/Andalusian sound reaches its most extroverted expression.
The entire work requires Drop D tuning (sixth string to D) throughout all three movements. Duration: approximately 8–9 minutes.
Performed at Siccas Guitars
Playing it
The Sonatina Meridional is rated as advanced repertoire by its publisher and is firmly advanced repertoire. The Campo movement is the most technically demanding — its climactic passages are described as giving "even the most advanced guitarists a run for their money." The scordatura (Drop D) must be set up before the work begins. The reward is a piece that sounds unmistakably Spanish and unmistakably Ponce: personal, sophisticated, and deeply felt.
See the full Ponce guide and the companion piece Folía de España. Explore our classical guitar collection.
