Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz (* May 29, 1860 in Camprodon, Girona, † May 18 1909 in Cambo -les- Bains, the department of Pyrénées- Atlantiques, France) was a Spanish composer and pianist.
Life
Isaac Albéniz began as a child prodigy at the piano, he gave his first concert at the age of four years. His parents presented him while dressed as a musketeer. Soon he was always away from home, first in Spain and financed by spontaneous concerts. Finally, he fled at the age of twelve years as a stowaway on a ship to Puerto Rico, then on to Buenos Aires, then to Cuba. Here succeeded his father to track him down, but Albéniz could persuade him that he was allowed to travel alone to New York. In his concerts he performed feats of magic, such as playing with the top of the finger. In 1874 he came to San Francisco, his first last station in America.
After his return he found in Spain quickly patrons who enabled him to further studies in Germany and Belgium. So he could be in 1874 at the Conservatory in Leipzig, as with Carl Reinecke ( 1824-1910 ), record, and met there in 1880 with Franz Liszt. This was so impressed by Albéniz's piano playing that Albéniz continued his studies at Liszt.
From 1883 to 1885 Albéniz lived again in Barcelona. Here he was induced by his compatriot Felip Pedrellian compose in National Spanish style. Albéniz it to process the rhythm of Spanish and Andalusian folk music in his piano works understood. So Albéniz is considered the founder of the Spanish national style, which combines elements of folklore with a virtuoso piano writing, which at times but also tends to adhere salon genre.
1890 Albéniz left Spain and went to London, but returned in 1893 returned to Spain, then to go to Paris in 1902 and to remain at his death in France. In Paris, he completed his studies in composition with Vincent d' Indy and Paul Dukas. It matured here to zoom finished composers and finally found his own style.
Cécilia Ciganer - Albéniz, former wife of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is a great-granddaughter of Isaac Albéniz.
Work
Piano works to 1904
Albéniz composed by the year 1904 hundreds of salon pieces for piano, some " technically simple, ... with such virtuosity, of modest intellectual rank". Many of these piano compositions were quickly transcribed by renowned guitarist for the guitar. The harmonic and rhythmic peculiarities, the tone and color of Spanish music were doing far more evident than in the piano version. Above all, the timbre of the guitar features the source of musical inspiration in the style of the composer. Albéniz himself to Francisco Tárrega's guitar transcriptions have preferred the originals. Albéniz's music was also played on the guitar or rather heard, because it was felt that this music this instrument " tailored to suit " appeared and because of the audience with the Spanish dances, even if they were played on the piano, rather thought he heard a guitar.
Iberia
Immortality Albéniz secured with the extensive piano cycle Iberia ( 1905-08 ). This suite consists of four " books ", each with three pieces that require the greatest pianistic virtuosity and are commonly regarded as the masterpiece of Albéniz. "Nothing in Albéniz 's earlier work would give an idea of the music of such complexity, muscularity and difficulty " ( Harold Schonberg ). The French pianist Blanche Selva (1884-1943), who dedicated the second volume, the work initially thought to be unplayable, but played all 12 pieces in premiere. At the Catalan pianist Joaquin malate (1872-1912) wrote in 1907 Albéniz: "I am writing Iberia ... mainly because you and for you ." The Deodatus of de Severac ultimately completed Navarre was originally scheduled for the fourth volume; Albéniz it seemed then but " outrageously cheap" and he composed instead Jerez. A successful and still frequently played orchestral suite with 5 Iberia transcriptions ( Evocación, El Puerto, El Corpus Christi en Sevilla, Triana, El Albaicin ) created the Spanish conductor and composer Enrique Fernàndez Arbós. Even Ravel had begun in 1928 on behalf of Ida Rubinstein, a transcription of six pieces with Iberia Rondeña, but then found that the transcription exclusive rights were awarded to Arbós and this had already been processed 5 pieces. As Arbós learned of this, he renounced this exclusive right; Ravel had, however, already turned to the composition of the Boléro and made no further use of Arbós concession. The remaining Iberia pieces transcribed in the 1950s, the Spanish composer Carlos Surinach on behalf of the heirs of Albéniz. El Corpus Christi en Sevilla also worked Leopold Stokowski and a full orchestral transcription of Iberia around the turn of the millennium, the Slovak composer Peter Breiner. Claude Debussy said about the last piece of Iberia, Eritaña: "Never the music has reached such a diverse and colorful impressions; the eyes close, as if blinded from looking at too many pictures. " A facsimile of this important piano works were Jacinto Torres out (Mainz 2001, Schott).
Famous Works
As more well-known works of Albéniz ' the following are noteworthy. All works are original for piano solo.
- Suite española, Op 47, 1886: consisting of eight pieces which pay homage to well-known regions and cities of his homeland: Granada, Cataluña, Seville, Cádiz, Asturias, Aragón, Castilla and Cuba
- Cantos de España Op 232: Preludio Leyenda (same op 47, no 5: Asturias), Oriental, Bajo la palmera, Córdoba, Seguidillas
- Recuerdos de Viaje, Op 71: En el mar, Leyenda, Alborada, En la Alhambra, Puerta de Tierra, Rumores de la Caleta, ( Malagueña ), En la playa
- Suite España, Op 165: Preludio, Tango, Malagueña, Capricho, Serenata, Zortzico
- Doce piezas características op 92
- Mallorca op 202
- Iberia: Book 1: Evocación, El Puerto, El Corpus Christi en Sevilla
- Book 2: Rondeña, Almería, Triana
- Book 3: El Albaicin, El Polo, Lavapies
- Book 4: Málaga, Jerez, Eritaña (hostel in Sevilla)
The three operas are still relatively rare played:
- Merlin - Opera in 3 acts
- Henry Clifford - opera in 3 acts
- Pepita Jiménez - Lyric Comedy in 2 acts