"La Vega" is a composition for solo piano by
Isaac Albéniz. It was intended to be the second
movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
of a symphonic
suite
Suite may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition
** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach
** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó
** ''Suite' ...
called ''Alhambra'' after the
Arab palace in Granada, in the Andalusia region in Spain. The suite was drafted in Paris in December 1896, and consisted of six pieces:
#''Preludio''
#''La Vega''
#''Lindaraja''
#''Generalife''
#''Zambra''
#''Alarme!''
Albéniz completed only ''La Vega'' (on 26 January 1897) and the first 16 bars of ''Generalife''. The score was written in piano solo format, and ''La Vega'' was later orchestrated. The orchestral version of ''La Vega'' was never published however, but the composer decided to publish the piano solo version after discarding the last three pages and writing a new, more developed version of the entire piece, with a reprise of the opening "A" section taking the place of the three discarded pages. This new expanded version was completed on 14 February 1897 and published that year.
The piece lasts approximately 14 minutes.
''La Vega'' is an evocation of the
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
plains on the edge of the city, a "musical reflection", as the composer put it, contemplated from the Alhambra Palace.
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
, on hearing Albéniz play the piece, enthusiastically told him of his wish to immediately go and discover Granada.
A number of errors were introduced in the typesetting of ''La Vega''
's first edition, and it was not until 2003 that a corrected edition was published.
References
External links
* (uncorrected)
Compositions by Isaac Albéniz
1899 compositions
Compositions for solo piano
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