A pupil of Domenico Scarlatti, the Catalan composer Antonio Soler spent much of his life as a monk at the Escorial. His career involved him with the royal family, notably as music master to the Infante Don Gabriel, the son of Carlos III, and in monastic musical activities. He won a wide reputation as a theorist, combining mathematical studies with the design of organs.

Soler wrote music for the church but is known chiefly known for his 150 varied and colourful keyboard sonatas, mostly written for the harpsichord. These extend the idiom of Scarlatti into the new world of the later 18th century, making fuller use of the instrument’s expressive capabilities.