Ignatius Sancho

Les Matadors

Les Matadors represents an English country dance from Ignatius Sancho's "Minuets Cotillons & Country Dances for the Violin, Mandolin, German Flute, & Harpsichord", published in 1775. Sancho's original Les Matadors piece is accompanied only by a second instrument in quarter and half notes. Dión Morales arranged Les Matadors in celebration of a composer of color through two-part writing in D major for string orchestra, exploring varied dynamics and conversations between groups of two instruments. Accents and melodic skips hold the students' attention as they learn 2/4 time. Students' imaginations will create a matador, in his colorful and grand traje de luces or "suit of lights," posturing with the bull in the arena. Your students will love performing Dión Morales's arrangement of Les Matadors, a level 1 English country dance for string orchestra.