Suite Española Op. 47, Nos. 1 and 2
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
The nationalistic music of the Romantic period cannot be discussed without the mention of Isaac Albéniz, a composer born in Spain in 1860. His works are saturated with the sounds of Spanish folk tunes, instruments, and dances. The Suite Española is no exception, with eight movements depicting various regions of Spain. Albéniz imitates guitars and castanets through the use of arpeggiated chords. The first movement, Granada, consists of light guitar-like arpeggiated chords in the right hand with a melodic tenor line in the left hand. A contrasting minor section in the middle showcases a more dramatic melody accented with trills and other ornamentation before returning to the first theme again. The movement ends quietly and simply. In the second movement, Cataluna, Albéniz again utilizes arpeggiation to create a guitar sound, but this time in the left hand. The movement opens with a dramatic melodic statement followed by a lilting melody with chordal accompaniment. This movement is much more involved than the Granada, with virtuosic passages and sharp dynamic contrasts. The Cataluna movement mirrors many of the traditional elements of the Sardana dance, which is a typical dance from the Catalonian region in Spain. This dance also begins with a free, solo instrumental introduction leading into the dance, which is either in 2/4 or 6/8. In my opinion, Albéniz did a fantastic job of creating a vivid aural representation of this dance.
After listening to both movements on piano, I was curious to hear some of the many guitar arrangements I saw available. I found that I much prefer the guitar recordings, simply because the style of composition is so much more natural on guitar. The arpeggiated chords begin to sound tedious and clunky on the piano after a few minutes of listening, but seem very appropriate when heard on the Spanish guitar. I also found the melodic contrast to be more appealing on the guitar as well.
While Albéniz was a crucial part of the Spanish music composed during his lifetime, I understand why these pieces aren't included in the canon. They simply aren't substantial enough to stand up against the huge output of not only piano music, but other major works being written during this period. In other European countries, composers like Wagner and Verdi were creating enormous nationalistic operas that, at the time, would clearly overshadow smaller pieces such as this suite. Even just within Spain itself, Albéniz was composing alongside Enrique Granados, another important composer and pianist who wrote within the same genre of Spanish nationalistic compositions. Albéniz was also composing at the same time as many of the piano greats across Europe were creating a huge outpour of repertoire for this instrument, which was becoming more and more popular very rapidly. Although Albéniz was quite popular in his time, his small-scale works such as Suite Española just cannot hold their own in the world of piano repertoire. While it provides an intriguing view into the culture of Spain, it does not have the widespread, international appeal of music composed by Chopin or Liszt, for example. It is a different story for guitar repertoire, however, as many classical guitarists practice and perform this suite regularly. Even so, Suite Española remains as a lesser known work of the Romantic period.
Clark, Walter Aaron. Isaac Albéniz: Portrait of a Romantic. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
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