Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...

’s ''Suite española'', Op. 47, is a suite for solo

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. It is mainly composed of works written in 1886 which were grouped together in 1887, in honour of the

Queen of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

. Like many of Albeniz's works for the piano, these pieces depict different regions and musical styles in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Origins of the suite

The work originally consisted of four pieces: ''Granada'', ''Cataluña'', ''Sevilla'' and ''Cuba'' and was published in Madrid by Zozaya. The remaining four movements, ''Cádiz'', ''Asturias'', ''Aragón'' and ''Castilla,'' had been published in other editions and were added to the original four. The first appearance of the eight movement suite was in 1901 published by Dotesio. The editor Hofmeister republished the ''Suite española'' in 1912, after Albéniz's death, with the four extra movements. The four additional pieces do not exactly reflect the geographical region to which they refer. A clear example of this is ''Asturias (Leyenda)'', whose

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

Flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

rhythms have little to do with the Atlantic region of

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

. Opus 47, the number assigned by Hofmeister, does not have any chronological relation to any of Albéniz's other works, since the opus numbers of Albéniz's compositions were randomly assigned by publishers and Albéniz himself. Despite the spurious nature of the ''Suite española'', however, it has become one of the most performed of Albéniz's piano works, a favorite of both pianists and audiences.

The music

In these works, the first title refers to the geographical region portrayed, and the title in parentheses is the musical form or dance from that region. From

Granada Granada ( ; ) 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 foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

in Andalusia there is a Serenata, from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

a Curranda or Courante, from

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

a Sevillanas, from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

(which was still part of Spain in the 1880s) a Notturno in the style of a habanera, from Cadiz a Canción, from

a Leyenda, from

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

a Fantasia in the style of a

jota Jota may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Iota (Ι, ι), the name of the 9th letter in the Greek alphabet; * (figuratively) ''Something very small'', based on the fact that the letter Iota (lat. i) is the smallest character in the alphabet; * The name of the ...

, and from Castile a seguidillas. Cádiz (Canción) and Asturias (Leyenda) are both geographically inaccurate.

Pieces

In the works constituting the ''Suite española'', the first title makes reference to the region that each piece represents, and the subtitle in brackets indicates the musical form of the dance of the region. #''Granada (

Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...

)'' #''Cataluña (

Courante The ''courante'', ''corrente'', ''coranto'' and ''corant'' are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. In a Baroque dance suite an Italian or French courante is typically pair ...

)'' #''Sevilla (

Sevillanas ''Sevillanas'' () are a type of folk music and dance of Sevilla and its region. They were derived from the Seguidilla, an old Castilian folk music and dance genre. In the nineteenth century they were influenced by Flamenco. They have a relati ...

)'' #''Cádiz (

Canción ''Canción'' ("song") is a popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. p42 Its roots lie in Spanish popular song forms, including tiranas, P ...

)'' #''Asturias (

Leyenda ''Asturias'' (''Leyenda''), named simply ''Prelude'' 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, was originally written for the p ...

)'' #''Aragón ( Fantasía)'' #''Castilla ( Seguidillas)'' #''Cuba ( Nocturno)'' The suite has been orchestrated by other hands, including a well-known version by

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in Burgos, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military serv ...

. Arrangements of individual works and indeed the entire suite are often played in concert by classical guitarists. In fact, "Granada", "Sevilla", "Cádiz" and "Asturias" are more often heard on guitar than in their original piano versions; all four have been staples of the guitar literature since the early 20th century. "Cataluña" and "Cuba" became solo guitar staples in the 1980s. The remaining pieces, "Aragón" and "Castilla," have been transcribed for guitar solo but are more often heard in multiple-guitar transcriptions.

Media

References

External links

* A free copy of the Suite can b
downloaded
from the

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project uses MediaWiki software, and ...

.
Variations of ''Asturias'' by Carolina García and Pedro Gan

''Asturias'' by Edgardo Roffé

''Granada'' by Paulo López

''Sevilla'' by Edgardo Roffé
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zrwCjjUqs0 {{DEFAULTSORT:Suite espanola Suite espanola (Albeniz) Suites by Isaac Albéniz 1887 compositions Orchestral suites