Prof. Grande
21, February 2008
Suite Espanola, no.1 and no.2
By
Isaac Albeniz

Isaac Manuel Francisco Albeniz y Pascual was born on May 29, 1860, in the town of Camprodon in the Catalonian province of Girona. In 1869, Albeniz composed his first piece entitled Marcha Military for piano. He quickly appointed a position in the city of Caceres by Excelentisimo Senor Vizconde del Bruch, a general’s twelve- year- old son. In July of 1879, Albeniz tied for first place in a piano competition in Brussels. In the summer of 1880, Albeniz set out to realize his dream of studying with Franz Liszt. He made his way to Budapest via Prague and Vienna, but Liszt was not in Budapest at that time. Albeniz wrote in his diary that he played for him on August 18, 1880, but this was pure fabrication. Why he fabricated this is uncertain, but some believe he wanted to justify his talent to his family. Overall, his lack of artistic success on his trip came to him as a great disappointment. He even contemplated taking his own life. In 1883, Albeniz moved back to Barcelona where he met and married Rosina Jordana Lagarriga – one of his students. By 1887, Albeniz was known for his compositions all over the world, the most popular being his Spanish style pieces including Suite Espanola.
Albeniz freely adopted the musical feel from Spanish folk music. He used its rhythmic and melodic elements in his compositions. He felt a special attraction towards flamenco, and exotic folk music of Andalusia. This was certainly an inspiration for the first movement ofSuite Espanola no.1no.2. No.1 has a total of eight movements all together. The first movement is titled “Granada, (Serenata)”, which means “feminine”, and was composed in1886. Albeniz does a fantastic job creating the image of a woman and her romantic qualities. One way he paints an of image a woman is by having the right hand repeat a sequence in the upper reaches of the piano that out lines the chords. While this sequence is occurring, he has the melody in the left hand of the piano. Another way he helps himself create this image is by having it in a 3/8 meter. This, in turn, with the chords being outlined in the right hand, gives us the painted image of a young woman dancing. The second section of the “Granada”, or the bridge, changes to a minor key with the melody moved up to the right hand. Later in the movement, Albeniz refers back to his opening theme, ending the piece in a circular fashion.
The second movement of no.1 is entitled “Cataluña”, is in a 6/8 meter, and is written in the key of G minor. This piece is also a dance and has more of a dramatic sound. The triplet is used very often throughout the entire piece as well as sixteenths. This definitely is a good representation of how he was influenced by Andalusia and Spanish folk music. The piece uses rhythmic style of Spanish folk music. Overall, the movement is very well written and stays at a fortissimo level. The third movement is entitled “Sevilla” (Sivillians). This movement was written for the purpose to describe the people of the city “Sevilla”. This movement comes off happy and proud, and at times, almost circus like. Towards the middle of the piece it has a romantic feel to it. I got the impression that the people of “Sevilla” are, fun, romantic, and a proud people. This movement was fun.
Movement six, entitled “Aragon” (Fantasia), was one of the better movements out of the eight. This movement is heroic and in a 3/4 meter. Albeniz creates excitement with his dynamic contrast throughout the piece. This movement requires a lot of energy throughout the entire piece. Also beat one is emphasized the most. Every thing seems to be aimed at this beat. The movement is in two bar phrases that ends with a recurring melody on beat one of the next measure. This movement was my favorite.
The first movement of No.2 is entitled “Zaragoza”, a city of northeast Spain on the Ebro River northeast of Madrid. This movement is a good representation of traditional Spanish folk music in the fact that it shows, not just the rhythmic qualities, but also the melodic features of Spanish folk music. I enjoyed this movement. The second and last movement of no.2, is virtuosic. The name of the movement is entitled “Sevilla”. Sevilla a city is Spain that is know for its bullfighting. Albeniz starts off this movement loud with heavy accents. I believe he is trying to capture the masculine qualities of bullfighting throughout the city.
Overall I enjoyed both movements of Suite Espanola. I personally preferred the first movement over the second movement. It had more of a romantic effect and kept my attention longer. I could defiantly hear and visualize the feminine qualities in the first movement. I thought Albeniz does a great job painting this image. Both movements are good representations of the Spanish sound. The odd meters give a dance- like quality and groove. I could see anyone slow dancing to that first movement. When I first heard it, I pictured myself at nice up- scale restaurant and a Spanish couple dancing. I enjoyed both pieces, and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to hear good Spanish music for the piano.
I believe Suite Espanola should be considered part of the canon. It is unique in the fact that it is the first of its kind to use the elements of rhythm and melody in Spanish folk music, and that each movement represents and person, place, or thing in Spanish culture. Most of all, I believe Albeniz does a magnificent job of creating what he is trying to describe in each of his movements. His personality is very much in his writing and he uses different odd meters throughout the Suite. For these reasons, Suite Espanola should be considered in the canon.