Isaac Albéniz
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Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish
virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...
pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
,
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-
Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
who also had a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for his
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
works based on Spanish
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
idioms. Isaac Albéniz was close to the
Generation of '98 The Generation of '98 ( es, Generación del 98), also called Generation of 1898 ( es, Generación de 1898, links=no), was a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish–American War (1898), comm ...
. Transcriptions of many of his pieces, such as ''
Asturias (Leyenda) ''Asturias'' (''Leyenda''), named simply ''Leyenda'' by its composer, is a musical work by the Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909). The piece, which lasts around six minutes in performance,Some performers see the piece as a c ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...
'', '' Cadiz'', '' Córdoba'', '' Cataluña'', ''
Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
'', and
Tango in D ''Tango in D'', Op. 165, No. 2, is a composition by Isaac Albéniz. It was originally written for piano, as part of the suite ''España'', Op. 165 (1890). A slow, romantic piece, it is played in the key of D major. Norman Lloyd says of the piec ...
, are important pieces for classical guitar, though he never composed for the guitar. The personal papers of Albéniz are preserved in, among other institutions, the
Library of Catalonia The Library of Catalonia ( ca, Biblioteca de Catalunya, ) is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic producti ...
.


Life

Born in
Camprodon Camprodon (; from ''Camp Rodó'' "Round Field", ultimately from Latin ''Campus Rotundus'') is a small town in the comarca of Ripollès in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, located in the Pyrenees, near the French border. History The settlement of Ca ...
, province of
Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...
, to Ángel Albéniz (a customs official) and his wife, Maria de los Dolores Pascual, Albéniz was a
child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...
who first performed at the age of four. At age seven, after apparently taking lessons from
Antoine François Marmontel Antoine François Marmontel () (18 July 1816 – 16 January 1898) was a French pianist, composer, teacher and musicographer. He is mainly known today as an influential teacher at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught many musicians who became ...
, he passed the entrance examination for piano at the
Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
, but he was refused admission because he was believed to be too young. By the time he had reached 12, he had made many attempts to run away from home. His 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 twelve Albéniz stowed away in a ship bound for
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
. He then found himself in
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, then in the United States, giving concerts in New York and San Francisco and then travelled to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
. By age 15, he 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. In 1876, after a short stay at the
Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...
, he went to study at the
Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...
after King Alfonso's personal secretary,
Guillermo Morphy Guillermo Morphy y Ferríz de Guzmán, best known as Conde Morphy or Count Morphy (February 29, 1836 – August 28, 1899 in Madrid) was a Spanish aristocrat, music critic, musicologist, historian, educator, composer and politician. He became pers ...
, obtained him a royal grant. Count Morphy thought highly of Albéniz, who would later dedicate ''
Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...
'' to Morphy's wife when it premiered in Paris in January 1886. In 1880 Albéniz went to
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, Hungary, to study with
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, only to find out that Liszt was in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, Germany. In 1883 he met the teacher and composer Felip Pedrell, who inspired him to write Spanish music such as the '' Chants d'Espagne''. The first movement (Prelude) of that suite, later retitled after the composer's death as ''
Asturias (Leyenda) ''Asturias'' (''Leyenda''), named simply ''Leyenda'' by its composer, is a musical work by the Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909). The piece, which lasts around six minutes in performance,Some performers see the piece as a c ...
'', is now part of the
classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
repertoire, even though it was originally composed for piano. Many of Albéniz's other compositions were also transcribed for guitar by
Francisco Tárrega Francisco de Asís Tárrega Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and ''Recuerdos de la Alhambra''. He is often calle ...
. At the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, the piano manufacturer Érard sponsored a series of 20 concerts featuring Albéniz's music. 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 some
musical comedies Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
which brought him to the attention of the wealthy Francis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer. Money-Coutts commissioned and provided him with librettos for the opera '' Henry Clifford'' and for a projected trilogy of
Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
operas. The first of these, '' Merlin'' (1898–1902), was thought to have been lost but has recently been reconstructed and performed. Albéniz never completed ''Lancelot'' (only the first act is finished, as a vocal and piano score), and he never began ''Guinevere'', the final part. In 1900 he started to suffer from
Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...
and returned to writing piano music. Between 1905 and 1908 he composed his final masterpiece, ''
Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
'' (1908), a suite of twelve piano "impressions". In 1883 the composer married his student Rosina Jordana. They had two children who lived into adulthood: Laura (a painter) and Alfonso (who played for
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
in the early 1900s before embarking on a career as a diplomat). Another child, Blanca, died in 1886, and two other children died in infancy. His great-granddaughter is
Cécilia Attias Cécilia María Sara Isabel Attias ( Ciganer-Albéniz, formerly Martin and Sarkozy; born 12 November 1957) was the second spouse of French president Nicolas Sarkozy until October 2007. Background Cecilia Attias was born Cécilia María Sara Is ...
, former wife of
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
. Albéniz died from his kidney disease on 18 May 1909 at age 48 in
Cambo-les-Bains Cambo-les-Bains (; eu, Kanbo) is a town in the traditional Basque province of Labourd, now in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It lies on the south-western bank of the river Nive. Cambo-les-Bains station has rail ...
, in Labourd, south-western France. Only a few weeks before his death, the French Government bestowed upon Albéniz the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
, its highest honour. He is buried at the
Montjuïc Cemetery Montjuïc Cemetery, known in Catalan as Cementiri del Sud-oest or Cementiri de Montjuïc, is located on one of the rocky slopes of Montjuïc hill in Barcelona. History It was opened on 17 March 1883 by the city of Barcelona as its main cemetery ...
,
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.


Music


Early works

Albéniz's early works were mostly " salon style" music. Albéniz's first published composition, ''Marcha Militar'', appeared in 1868. A number of works written before this are now lost. He continued composing in traditional styles ranging from
Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...
,
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
,
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
,
Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
and
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
until the mid-1880s. He also wrote at least five zarzuelas, of which all but two are now lost. 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 by ''Córdoba, Mallorca'', by the copla of the ''Sevillanas'', by the ''Serenata'', and ''Granada''. 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 the Alhambra, 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.


Middle period

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 book ''The Music of Spain'',
Gilbert Chase Gilbert Chase (4 September 1906, Havana, Cuba – 22 February 1992, Chapel Hill, North Carolina) was an American music historian, critic and author, and a "seminal figure in the field of musicology and ethnomusicology. His ''America's Music, f ...
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." Felipe Pedrell inspired Albéniz to write Spanish music such as the '' Suite 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 of
cante jondo ''Cante jondo'' (Andalusian ) is a vocal style in flamenco, an unspoiled form of Andalusian folk music. The name means "deep song" in Spanish, with ''hondo'' ("deep") spelled with J () as a form of eye dialect, because traditional Andalusian pro ...
, which means deep or profound singing. It is the most serious and moving variety of
flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...
or Spanish gypsy song, often dealing with themes of death, anguish, or religion. 3. The use of exotic scales also associated with flamenco music. The
Phrygian mode The Phrygian mode (pronounced ) can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek ''tonos'' or ''harmonia,'' sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set of octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern ...
is the most prominent in Albéniz's music, although he also used the Aeolian and
Mixolydian mode Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' or ''tonoi'', based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; or a modern musical mode or diatonic scal ...
s as well as the
whole-tone scale In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or ''hexatonic'' s ...
. 4. The transfer of guitar idioms into piano writing.
Following his marriage, Albéniz settled in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Spain and produced a substantial quantity of music in a relatively short period. By 1886 he had written over 50 piano pieces. 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 of Andalusian 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 Moorish
gusla The gusle ( sr-cyrl, гусле) or lahuta ( sq, lahutë) is a single-stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanied by s ...
s. 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.


Later period

While Albéniz's crowning achievement, ''
Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
'', 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 in '' Chants 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", and the beginnings of compositional exploration that became the hallmark of his later works. This period also includes his operatic works—'' Merlin, Henry Clifford'', and '' Pepita Jiménez''. His orchestral works of this period include ''Spanish Rhapsody'' (1887) and ''Catalonia'' (1899), dedicated to
Ramon Casas Ramon Casas i Carbó (; 4 January 1866 – 29 February 1932) was a Catalan artist. Living through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona, he was known as a portraitist, sketching and painting the intellectual, economic, and ...
, who had painted his full-length portrait in 1894.


Impact

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 has influenced aspiring younger composers such as
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 ...
and
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
. 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. Albéniz's works have become an important part of the repertoire of the classical guitar, many of which have been transcribed by
Francisco Tárrega Francisco de Asís Tárrega Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and ''Recuerdos de la Alhambra''. He is often calle ...
,
Miguel Llobet Miguel Llobet Solés (18 October 187822 February 1938) was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk songs for the ...
and others. ''
Asturias (Leyenda) ''Asturias'' (''Leyenda''), named simply ''Leyenda'' by its composer, is a musical work by the Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909). The piece, which lasts around six minutes in performance,Some performers see the piece as a c ...
'' in particular is heard most often on the guitar, as are ''
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 ...
'', ''
Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...
'', '' Cadiz'', '' Cataluña'', '' Córdoba'', ''
Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
'', and ''
Tango in D ''Tango in D'', Op. 165, No. 2, is a composition by Isaac Albéniz. It was originally written for piano, as part of the suite ''España'', Op. 165 (1890). A slow, romantic piece, it is played in the key of D major. Norman Lloyd says of the piec ...
''. Gordon Crosskey and Cuban-born guitarist
Manuel Barrueco Manuel Barrueco (born December 16, 1952) is a Cuban classical guitarist. During three decades of concert performances he has performed and recorded across the United States and has been involved in many successful collaborations. In addition, he ...
have both made solo guitar arrangements of all the eight-movements in ''Suite española''. Selections from ''Iberia'' have rarely been attempted on solo guitar but have been very effectively performed by guitar ensembles, such as the performance by
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
and Julian Bream of ''Iberia's '' opening "Evocation".
The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
incorporated "Asturias" into their song "Spanish Caravan"; also,
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
's " To Tame a Land" uses the introduction of the piece for the song bridge. More recently, a guitar version of ''Granada'' functions as something of a love theme in
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
's 2008 film ''
Vicky Cristina Barcelona ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' is a 2008 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson in lead roles. The plot centers on two American women, Vick ...
''. The theme from ''Asturias'' was incorporated or adapted in several soundtracks including the 2008 horror film ''
Mirrors A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the ima ...
'', composed by
Javier Navarrete Javier Navarrete (born May 9, 1956) is a Spanish film score composer.Scott, A.O. (November 21, 2001). ''The New York Times''The Devil's Backbone (review overview)./ref> His best known score, for which he received an Oscar nomination, was for ''Pa ...
, and the Netflix TV show '' Godless'', composed by
Carlos Rafael Rivera Carlos Rafael Rivera (born 18 August, 1970) is an American composer based out of Guatemala. In 2014, his music score for the movie '' A Walk Among the Tombstones'' advanced for Oscar in the Best Original Score category. He has won an Emmy Awar ...
. In 1997 the ''Fundación Isaac Albéniz'' was founded to promote Spanish music and musicians and to act as a research centre for Albéniz and Spanish music in general. A street in
Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, is named after him.


In film

A film about his life entitled '' Albéniz'' was made in 1947. It was produced in Argentina.


References and sources

References Sources * * * * *


Further reading

* Alarcón Hernández, Joana; et al. ''Isaac Albéniz, artistes i mecenes''. Barcelona: Museu Diocesà de Barcelona, 2009. * Albéniz, Isaac. ''Chants d'Espagne'', G. Henle Verlag, Berlin, 2004. * Albéniz, Isaac. ''Impresiones y diarios de viaje''. adrid Fundación Isaac Albéniz, DL 1990. * Amat Cortes, Joan. ''Isaac Albéniz, un català universal''. arcelona Cevagraf, DL 1998. * Aviñoa, Xosé. ''Albéniz''. Madrid; Barcelona tc. Daimon, cop. 1986. * Aviñoa, Xosé. ''La música i el Modernisme''. Barcelona: Curial, 1985. (Biblioteca de cultura catalana (Curial Edicions Catalanes); 58). * Aviñoa, Xosé. ''Modernisme i Modernistes – Musica i Modernisme: Definició i Període''. Lunwerg editores, 2001. * Baytelman, Pola. ''Isaac Albéniz: Chronological List and Thematic Catalog of His Piano Works'', Harmonie Park Press, Michigan 1993. * Clark, Walter Aaron. ''Isaac Albéniz: A Guide to Research'', Garland Publishing Inc. New York & London, 1998. * Ericourt, Daniel; Erickson, Robert. P. ''MasterClasses in Spanish Piano Music'', Hinshaw Music, Chapel Hill North Carolina, 1984. * Gauthier, André. ''Albéniz''. Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 1978. (Clásicos de la música). * Guerra y Alarcón, Antonio. ''Isaac Albéniz. Notas crítico-biográficas de tan eminente pianista''. .l. Fundación Isaac Albéniz, DL 1990. * Heras, Antonio de las. ''Vida de Albéniz''. Barcelona: Ediciones Patria,
942 Year 942 ( CMXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – The Hungarians invade Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and besiege the fortress ...
* Iglesias, Antonio. ''Isaac Albéniz : su obra para piano''. 2 vols. Madrid: Alpuerto, DL 1987. * Jean-Aubry, G. "Isaac Albéniz 1860–1909", in ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...
'', vol 58, no. 898, December 1917 pp. 535–538. * Kalfa, Jacqueline. ''Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) : la vocation de l'Espagne''. Paris: Séguier, 2000. (Carré Musique; 4). * Marco, Thomas. ''Spanish Music in the Twentieth Century''. 1993. * Martorell, Oriol; Valls, Manuel. ''Síntesi històrica de la música catalana''. Sant Cugat del Vallès: Els llibres de la frontera, 1985. * Montero Alonso, José. ''Albéniz, España en "suite"''. Madrid: Editorial Silex, 1988. * Morales, Luisa; Clark, Walter A. ''Antes de Iberia : de Masarnau a Albéniz : actas del Symposium FIMTE 2008 = Pre-Iberia : from Masarnau to Albéniz : proceedings of FIMTE Symposium 2008''. Garrucha: Leal;
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Centro de Documentación Musical de Andalucía, cop. 2009. (Series FIMTE; 3). * Pedrell, Felip. ''Concierto de Albéniz''. Madrid: Fundación Isaac Albéniz, 1990. * Pérez Senz, Javier. ''Isaac Albéniz, 1860–1909. Cents anys : un geni romàntic''. Barcelona: Institut de Cultura, Departament de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació, 2008. (Quaderns de l'Auditori; 7). * Reverter, Arturo. ''Albéniz-Arbós, historia de una amistad''. Madrid: Scherzo, 1989. * Romero, Justo. ''Isaac Albéniz''. Barcelona: Península, 2002. (Guías Scherzo; 14). * Ruiz Albéniz, Victor. ''Isaac Albéniz''. Madrid: Comisaría General de Música, 1948. * Salazar, Adolfo. "Isaac Albéniz y los albores del renacimiento musical en España", en ''Revista de Occidente'', vol. 12 (Madrid, 1926), pp. 99–107. * Sempronio. ''Retrats de Ramon Casas''. Barcelona: Edicions Polígrafa, 1970. * Torres, Jacinto. ''Las claves Madrileñas de Isaac Albéniz''. Imprenta Artesanal de Madrid, 2009. * Torres Mulas, Jacinto. ''Catálogo sistemático descriptivo de las obras musicales de Isaac Albéniz''. Madrid : Instituto de Bibliografía Musical, DL 2001. * Villalba, Luis. ''Imagen distanciada de un compositor-pianista''. Madrid: Fundación Isaac Albéniz, 1990. * ''Albéniz : edición conmemorativa del centenario de Isaac Albéniz 1909–2009''. adrid Ministerio de Cultura, Sociedad Cultural de Conmemoraciones Culturales, DL 2009. * ''Albéniz : leyendas y verdades : Conde Duque. Sala de las Bóvedas del 11 de noviembre de 2009 al 31 de enero de 2010''. Madrid: Centro Cultural del Conde Duque. Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, 2009.


External links

* *
Albéniz Foundation
*
Personal papers of Isaac Albéniz in the Biblioteca de Catalunya


by Antonio Iglesias, Antonio Fernández-Cid



(La Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes)
Improvisación nº 1Improvisación nº 2Improvisación nº 3
– La Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes)
Photos
(Gallica) * ''L'escola pianística catalana (Enregistraments històrics) '

* ''The Catalan Piano Tradition''

* ''Rollos de Pianola (Obras de Albéniz, Granados, Turina, Ocón, Chapí, Alonso y Otros)''
Almaviva, DS – 0141

Tango
arranged by Mischa Elman for violin and piano (from the Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Albeniz, Isaac 1860 births 1909 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century Spanish composers 19th-century Spanish male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Spanish composers 20th-century Spanish male musicians Burials at Montjuïc Cemetery Classical composers from Catalonia Catalan pianists Composers for piano Deaths from nephritis Male classical pianists Male opera composers Pupils of Salomon Jadassohn Pupils of Vincent d'Indy Spanish classical composers Spanish classical pianists Spanish male classical composers Spanish opera composers Spanish Romantic composers University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni