Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (Spanish pronunciation:[iˈsakalˈβeniθ]; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanishvirtuoso pianist,composer, andconductor. He is one of the foremost composers of thepost-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for hispiano works that incorporate Spanishfolk music idioms and elements.[1] His compositions, particularly those in his suiteIberia (1905–1908), are considered masterpieces and have influenced bothclassical music andSpanish nationalism in music. Isaac Albéniz was close to theGeneration of '98.
Albéniz (age 45) with his daughter, Laura (age 15).
In 1860, Albéniz was born inCamprodon, province ofGirona, to Ángel Albéniz (a customs official) and his wife, Maria de los Dolores Pascual. He was achild prodigy, first performing at the age of 4.[2]
In 1867, at age 7, after apparently taking lessons fromAntoine François Marmontel, Albéniz passed the entrance examination for piano at theConservatoire de Paris, but he was refused admission because he was believed to be too young.[2]
As of 1872, by the time he had reached 12, Albéniz had made many attempts to run away from home.[citation needed]
Albéniz's concert career began at the age of nine when his father toured both Isaac and his sister, Clementina, throughout northern Spain. A popular myth is that at the age of 12, in 1872, Albéniz stowed away in a ship bound forBuenos Aires. He then found himself inCuba, then in the United States, giving concerts in New York and San Francisco and then travelled toLiverpool,London andLeipzig.[3]
By age 15, in 1875, Albéniz had already given concerts worldwide. This story is not entirely false, Albéniz did travel the world as a performer; however, he was accompanied by his father, who as a customs agent was required to travel frequently. This can be attested by comparing Isaac's concert dates with his father's travel itinerary.[citation needed]
In 1883, Albéniz met the teacher and composerFelip Pedrell, who inspired him to write Spanish music such as theChants d'Espagne. The first movement (Prelude) of that suite, later retitled after the composer's death asAsturias (Leyenda), is now part of theclassical guitar repertoire, even though it was originally composed for piano. Many of Albéniz's other compositions were also transcribed for guitar byFrancisco Tárrega. At the1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, the piano manufacturerÉrard sponsored a series of 20 concerts featuring Albéniz's music.[2]
Ex libris Isaac Albéniz by Ismael Smith (around 1921).
Also in 1883, the composer married Rosina Jordana Lagarriga, daughter of the former mayor of theGràcia district and a former student of Isaac.[6] They had two children who lived into adulthood:Alfonso (1885–1941), who played forFC Barcelona in the early 1900s before embarking on a career as adiplomat, and Laura (1890–1944), who went on to become a renownedillustrator in the arts of drawing andpainting.[6] Another child, Enriqueta, died in infancy in 1886.[citation needed] His great-granddaughter isCécilia Attias, former wife ofNicolas Sarkozy.[6]
The apex of Albéniz's concert career is considered to be 1889 to 1892 when he had concert tours throughout Europe. During the 1890s Albéniz lived in London and Paris. For London he wrote somemusical comedies which brought him to the attention of the wealthyFrancis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer. Money-Coutts commissioned and provided him with librettos for the operaHenry Clifford and for a projected trilogy ofArthurian operas. The first of these,Merlin (1898–1902), was thought to have been lost but has recently been reconstructed and performed.[7] Albéniz never completedLancelot (only the first act is finished, as a vocal and piano score), and he never beganGuinevere, the final part.[8]
In 1900, Albéniz started to suffer fromBright's disease and returned to writing piano music.[1]
Between 1905 and 1908, Albéniz composed his final masterpiece,Iberia (1908), a suite of twelve piano "impressions".[1]
On 18 May 1909 (116 years ago) (1909-05-18), at age 48, Albéniz died from his kidney disease inCambo-les-Bains, inLabourd, south-western France. Only a few weeks before his death, the French Government had bestowed upon Albéniz theLegion of Honour, its highest honour. He is buried at theMontjuïc Cemetery,Barcelona.[1]
Perhaps the best source on the works is Albéniz himself. He is quoted as commenting on his earlier period works as:
There are among them a few things that are not completely worthless. The music is a bit infantile, plain, spirited; but in the end, the people, our Spanish people, are something of all that. I believe that the people are right when they continue to be moved byCórdoba,Mallorca, by the copla of theSevillanas, by theSerenata, andGranada. In all of them I now note that there is less musical science, less of the grand idea, but more colour, sunlight, flavour of olives. That music of youth, with its little sins and absurdities that almost point out the sentimental affectation ... appears to me like the carvings in theAlhambra, those peculiar arabesques that say nothing with their turns and shapes, but which are like the air, like the sun, like the blackbirds or like the nightingales of its gardens. They are more valuable than all else of Moorish Spain, which though we may not like it, is the true Spain.[10]
During the late 1880s, the strong influence of Spanish style is evident in Albéniz's music. In 1883 Albéniz met the teacher and composer Felipe Pedrell. Pedrell was a leading figure in the development of nationalist Spanish music. In his bookThe Music of Spain,Gilbert Chase describes Pedrell's influence on Albéniz: "What Albéniz derived from Pedrell was above all a spiritual orientation, the realization of the wonderful values inherent in Spanish music."[11] Felipe Pedrell inspired Albéniz to write Spanish music such as theSuite española, Op. 47, noted for its delicate, intricate melody and abrupt dynamic changes.
In addition to the Spanish spirit infused in Albéniz's music, he incorporated other qualities as well. In her biography of Albéniz, Pola Baytelman discerns four characteristics of the music from the middle period as follows:
1. The dance rhythms of Spain, of which there are a wide variety. 2. The use ofcante jondo, which means deep or profound singing. It is the most serious and moving variety offlamenco or Spanish gypsy song, often dealing with themes of death, anguish, or religion. 3. The use of exotic scales also associated with flamenco music. ThePhrygian mode is the most prominent in Albéniz's music, although he also used theAeolian andMixolydian modes as well as thewhole-tone scale. 4. The transfer of guitar idioms into piano writing.[12]
Following his marriage, Albéniz settled inMadrid, Spain, and produced a substantial quantity of music in a relatively short period. By 1886 he had written over 50 piano pieces.[2] Albéniz biographer Walter A. Clark says that pieces from this period received enthusiastic reception in the composer's many concerts. Chase describes music from this period,
Taking the guitar as his instrumental model, and drawing his inspiration largely from the peculiar traits ofAndalusian folk music—but without using actual folk themes—Albéniz achieves a stylization of Spanish traditional idioms that while thoroughly artistic, gives a captivating impression of spontaneous improvisation...Córdoba is the piece that best represents the style of Albéniz in this period, with its hauntingly beautiful melody, set against the acrid dissonances of the plucked accompaniment imitating the notes of the Moorishguzlas. Here is the heady scent of jasmines amid the swaying palm trees, the dream fantasy of an Andalusian "Arabian Nights" in which Albéniz loved to let his imagination dwell.[13]
While Albéniz's crowning achievement,Iberia, was written in the last years of his life in France, many of its preceding works are well-known and of great interest. The five pieces inChants d'Espagne (Songs of Spain, published in 1892) are a solid example of the compositional ideas he was exploring in the "middle period" of his life. The suite shows what Albéniz biographer Walter Aaron Clark describes as the "first flowering of his unique creative genius"[page needed], and the beginnings of compositional exploration that became the hallmark of his later works. This period also includes his operatic works—Merlin,Henry Clifford, andPepita Jiménez. His orchestral works of this period includeSpanish Rhapsody (1887) andCatalonia (1899), dedicated toRamon Casas, who had painted his full-length portrait in 1894.
As one of the leading composers of his era, Albéniz's influences on both contemporary composers and on the future of Spanish music are profound. As a result of his extended stay in France and the friendship he formed with numerous composers there, his composition technique and harmonic language influenced aspiring younger composers such asClaude Debussy andMaurice Ravel. His activities as conductor, performer and composer significantly raised the profile of Spanish music abroad and encouraged Spanish music and musicians in his own country.[2]
Albéniz's works have become an important part of the repertoire of the classical guitar, many of which have been transcribed byFrancisco Tárrega,Miguel Llobet and others.Asturias (Leyenda) in particular is heard most often on the guitar, as areGranada,Sevilla,Cadiz,Cataluña,Córdoba,Mallorca, andTango in D. Gordon Crosskey and Cuban-born guitaristManuel Barrueco have both made solo guitar arrangements of all the eight movements inSuite española. Selections fromIberia have rarely been attempted on solo guitar but have been very effectively performed by guitar ensembles, such as the performance byJohn Williams andJulian Bream ofIberia's opening "Evocation".The Doors incorporated "Asturias" into their song "Spanish Caravan"; also,Iron Maiden's "To Tame a Land" uses the introduction of the piece for the song bridge. More recently, a guitar version ofGranada functions as something of a love theme inWoody Allen's 2008 filmVicky Cristina Barcelona.
A film about his life,Albéniz, was made in 1947. It was produced in Argentina.
The theme fromAsturias was incorporated or adapted in several soundtracks including the 2008 horror filmMirrors, composed byJavier Navarrete, and the Netflix TV showGodless, composed byCarlos Rafael Rivera.
In 1997 theFundación Isaac Albéniz was founded to promote Spanish music and musicians and to act as a research centre for Albéniz and Spanish music in general.[2]
Alarcón Hernández, Joana; Albéniz, Laura (2009).Isaac Albéniz, artistes i mecenes (in Catalan). Barcelona: Museu Diocesà de Barcelona.ISBN9788493689551.OCLC586095922.
Albéniz, Isaac (2004).Chants d'Espagne (in French). Berlin: G. Henle Verlag.
— (1990).Impresiones y diarios de viaje (in Spanish). [Madrid]: Fundación Isaac Albéniz.ISBN847506311X.
Amat Cortes, Joan (1998).Isaac Albéniz, un català universal (in Catalan). [Barcelona]: Cevagraf.
— (1985).La música i el Modernisme. Biblioteca de cultura catalana (Curial Edicions Catalanes (in Catalan). Vol. 58. Barcelona: Curial.ISBN8472562530.
— (2001).Modernisme i Modernistes – Musica i Modernisme: Definició i Període (in Catalan). Lunwerg.
Clark, Walter Aaron (1998).Isaac Albéniz: A Guide to Research. Garland.
Ericourt, Daniel; Erickson, Robert P. (1984).MasterClasses in Spanish Piano Music. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Hinshaw Music.
Gauthier, André (1978).Albéniz. Clásicos de la música (in Spanish). Madrid: Espasa Calpe.ISBN8423953300.
Guerra y Alarcón, Antonio (1990).Isaac Albéniz. Notas crítico-biográficas de tan eminente pianista (in Spanish). Fundación Isaac Albéniz.ISBN8475063128.
de las Heras, Antonio (1942).Vida de Albéniz (in Spanish). Barcelona: Patria.
Iglesias, Antonio (1987).Isaac Albéniz : su obra para piano (in Spanish). Vol. 1–2. Madrid: Alpuerto.ISBN8438101208.
Kalfa, Jacqueline (2000).Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) : la vocation de l'Espagne. Carré Musique (in French). Vol. 4. Paris: Séguier.ISBN2840491826.
Marco, Thomas (1993).Spanish Music in the Twentieth Century. Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0674831025.
Martorell, Oriol; Valls, Manuel (1985).Síntesi històrica de la música catalana (in Catalan). Sant Cugat del Vallès: Els llibres de la frontera.
Montero Alonso, José (1988).Albéniz, España en "suite" (in Spanish). Madrid: Silex.
Morales, Luisa; Clark, Walter A., eds. (2009).Antes de Iberia : de Masarnau a Albéniz : actas del Symposium FIMTE 2008 [Pre-Iberia : from Masarnau to Albéniz : proceedings of FIMTE Symposium 2008]. Series FIMTE. Vol. 3. Garrucha: Leal.ISBN9788461353316.
Pedrell, Felip (1990).Concierto de Albéniz (in Spanish). Madrid: Fundación Isaac Albéniz.
Pérez Senz, Javier (2008).Isaac Albéniz, 1860–1909. Cents anys : un geni romàntic. Quaderns de l'Auditori (in Catalan). Vol. 7. Barcelona: Institut de Cultura, Departament de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació.OCLC804296367. – with abstracts in English and Spanish
Reverter, Arturo (1989).Albéniz-Arbós, historia de una amistad (in Spanish). Madrid: Scherzo.
Ruiz Albéniz, Victor (1948).Isaac Albéniz (in Spanish). Madrid: Comisaría General de Música.
Salazar, Adolfo (1926). "Isaac Albéniz y los albores del renacimiento musical en España".Revista de Occidente (in Spanish).12. Madrid:99–107.
Sempronio (1970).Retrats de Ramon Casas (in Catalan). Barcelona: Polígrafa.OCLC343828.
Torres Mulas, Jacinto[in Spanish] (2009).Las claves Madrileñas de Isaac Albéniz (in Spanish). Imprenta Artesanal de Madrid.
— (2001).Catálogo sistemático descriptivo de las obras musicales de Isaac Albéniz (in Spanish). Madrid: Instituto de Bibliografía Musical.ISBN978-84-607-2854-2.
Villalba, Luis (1990).Imagen distanciada de un compositor-pianista (in Spanish). Madrid: Fundación Isaac Albéniz.
Albéniz : edición conmemorativa del centenario de Isaac Albéniz 1909–2009 (in Spanish). [Madrid]: Ministerio de Cultura, Sociedad Cultural de Conmemoraciones Culturales. 2009.
Albéniz : leyendas y verdades : Conde Duque. Sala de las Bóvedas del 11 de noviembre de 2009 al 31 de enero de 2010 (in Spanish). Madrid: Centro Cultural del Conde Duque. Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales. 2009.ISBN9788496102514.
