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Vijay Meunier Kate Sutton MUH3212-0004 24 April, 2015. Isaac Albéniz: His Works and their Legacy on Six Strings
The guitar is known as an instrument of Spanish origin; the classical guitar is often referred to colloquially as the “Spanish guitar.” Though it was once relegated to an accompaniment instrument for flamenco dances, times have changed; now the classical guitar is taught in universities around the world and accepted on the concert stage. This was not always the case; there was a time when the guitar did not have a large or varied enough repertoire to be considered by the musically literate. Even the selection of notated Spanish music for guitar was lacking. It is a strange anomaly that today the most popular Spanish music performed on classical guitar was written for piano. The music of Isaac Albéniz translates to guitar so well, it would be easy to fool the casual listener into thinking the music was originally written by a guitarist. The transcription and adaptation of Albéniz’s works for guitar is a historic yet ongoing process that has greatly improved Albéniz’s place in music history and also elevated the status of the guitar as a concert instrument.
Isaac Albéniz was born May 29, 1860, in the town of Camprodon, Spain. He was one of four children born into a musical family and the only son. His father Ángel was a customs officer, which lead to a somewhat migratory lifestyle for the Albéniz family. Isaac’s sister Clementina gave Albéniz lessons starting at a young age, and the two had their first public performance at the Teatre Romea when he was just four years old. Isaac started composing
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young, and had published his first original piece, Marcha military, in 1869. Albéniz was enrolled for a short time at the Real Conservatorio de Madrid in 1870, and began to tour Spain as a child prodigy in 1872. 1 In 1874, Albéniz began more serious study with José Tragó and continued to tour Spain with critical acclaim. In 1875 he travelled to Puerto Rico and Cuba to concertize. 2
In May of 1876 Albéniz enrolled in the Leipzig Conservatory, yet the language barrier proved too daunting, and he only stayed there for two months. In September of the same year, Albéniz left Spain once again to attend the Conservatoire Royal in Brussels, where he would stay for 3 years, studying piano and music theory. After winning 1st prize in Louis Brassin's studio piano competition in September of 1879, Albéniz left Brussels to return to Spain. In 1883 Albéniz finally settled down somewhat in 1883 in Barcelona and married Rosina Jordana. Here he was able to further his study of composition with Felipe Pedrell, a renowned composer and major proponent of Spanish nationalism in music. 3
Albéniz resided in Madrid till 1889, teaching, composing, and performing actively, while constantly gaining international fame. His work culminated in a large scale tour of Europe in 1889. 4 In 1890, Albéniz and his family moved to London, and his focus shifted to composition, particularly operatic, rather than performance. Here he met Francis Money-Coutts, with whom he engaged in a contract. Though Albéniz gained financial support from Money-Coutts, he lost some artistic integrity due to an obligation to write for Coutts' librettos. 5 In 1894, the family made its final move to Paris. Here Albéniz would refine his compositional abilities to their peak, 1 Walter Aaron Clark. Isaac Albéniz: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. 2 Pola Baytelman. Isaac Albéniz: Chronological List and Thematic Catalog of his Piano Works. (Michigan: Harmonie Park Press, 1993). 3 Ibid. 4 Edgar Istel and Frederick Martens. “Isaac Albéniz,” The Musical Quarterly Vol. 15, no. 1 (1929): 117-148. 5 Ibid.
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and he gained a job as a professor at the Schola Cantorum in 1897. 6 In his final years from 19051909, Albéniz would compose his Iberia suite for piano, considered by many to be his magnum opus. He died shortly after the piece's completion on May 18, 1909. 7
Albéniz’s work as a whole spans many different styles and periods. Because he started composing so early in life, there is a significant increase in the complexity of his pieces corresponding with his maturity and level of musical experience. His early works such as the Marcha Militar utilize a simplistic harmonic palette, yet contain a lively, youthful energy. Albéniz’s works from this period can be compared to a young Wolfgang Mozart, because of their inventive and catchy motives contained within basic harmonies and simple forms. The middle period, coinciding with his time spent studying with Felipe Pedrell, marks Albéniz’s exploration of Spanish scenery and folklore in music. On the subject of Spain, Andres Segovia said: "Spain is a nation of thirty million kings. We have no artistic schools, like the Flemish or the Raphael school of painters, or the classical school of composers. We have only individuals."8 Just as each citizen of Spain is an individual, the pieces Albéniz wrote during this period were character pieces that explore an individual locale or characteristic of Spain. The Spanish nationalism that developed in Albéniz’s style during this period remained a constant throughout his work. The last period in Albéniz’s compositions was his period of full maturity. His final pieces, namely the Iberia suite, showcase impressionistic techniques and reveal the influence of such groundbreaking (for the time) composers as Franck and Debussy. 9 This period proved that Albéniz could conquer the abstract in music and change the state of the art as well. The diversity
6 G. Jean-Aubry. "Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)" The Musical Times Vol. 58, No. 898 (Dec. 1, 1917). 7 Ibid. 8 Graham Wade. Maestro Segovia. London: Robson Books Ltd., 1986. 9 Walter Aaron Clark. Isaac Albéniz: Portrait of a Romantic. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
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of Albéniz’s music reflects the diverse regions of Spain, and other places in Europe that Albéniz lived.
It can definitely be said that Albéniz’s work is programmatic – each of these pieces tells an enthralling story or paints a vivid picture of a place. However, Albéniz often did not seek to represent the subjects of his work literally, instead depicting his own romanticized image of reality. The fact that Albéniz spent so much of his life travelling and living outside his home country of Spain can explain why many of his pieces seem to be dripping with nostalgia, representing an audible longing for his homeland. Though Albéniz never directly quoted folk songs in his pieces, he was inspired by the Moorish culture of the southern region of Spain, Andalucia, and the soulful flamenco song and dance found there. This is expressed musically through dance rhythms and hemiola, Phrygian modality mixed in with Romantic harmony, textures evocative of strummed guitars and passionate singing, and the use of the cante jondo affect (the tragic lament of a pained soul, analogous to a Spanish flamenco version of the American blues).10
Because Albéniz never wrote for guitar, guitarists must rely on transcriptions in order to play his music. However, these transcriptions are in no way rare – we owe the legacy of transcribing Albéniz for guitar mainly to Francisco Tarréga. Tarréga was a Spanish guitarist; born in 1852, he began study of classical guitar with Julian Arcas in 1862. His acquisition of a high quality classical guitar from the luthier Antonio Torres allowed Tarréga to achieve superior volume and tone, making him one of the first classical guitarists acclaimed on the concert stage. 10 Stanley Yates. Isaac Albéniz: 26 Pieces Arranged for Guitar. (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2011), 11.
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Tárrega enrolled in Madrid Conservatory in 1874, and studied proper theory and piano. By 1877, Tárrega was a fully-fledged concert guitarist that travelled to perform in Paris, London, Italy and throughout Spain.11 Not only did Tárrega write original compositions, but he became a specialist in transcribing piano pieces for the guitar, with transcriptions by such composers as Beethoven, Chopin, and Mendelssohn.12 Tárrega and Albéniz were contemporaries and friends. They attended each other’s performances often, even sharing a collaborative concert in Barcelona in 1884 which received high praise from critics. Tárrega’s mastery of transcription from piano to guitar worked perfectly with Albéniz’s already guitarristic piano pieces – thus Tárrega was the first to transcribe these works for guitar, and he started the long tradition of guitarists playing Albéniz.13 Tárrega’s most successful student, Miguel Llobet, would most directly inherit the quest of Albéniz transcription for guitar, and also concertized with Albéniz. In a friendly letter, Albéniz endorsed Llobet by saying “he impresses on the strings of his guitar a stamp of elegant authenticity that is amazing.”14 The fact that Albéniz had a history of close friendships with guitarists suggests that the influence of their playing must have had a profound effect on his musical life and composition.
The next most significant guitarist that helped bring Albéniz’s music to the forefront of the guitar repertoire is Andrés Segovia, born in Spain in 1893. Though he was mainly selftaught, Segovia would eventually reach technical and musical heights previously uncharted by any other guitarist. He was a prolific transcriber and commissioner of new music, helping to increase the size and scope of the guitar repertoire. Segovia quickly became the most famous 11 Thomas Heck. "Tárrega, Francisco." In Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed February 15, 2015. 12 Walter Aaron Clark. "Francisco Tárrega and the Art of Guitar Transcription." (working paper, University of California, Riverside). 13 Stanley Yates. Isaac Albéniz: 26 Pieces Arranged for Guitar. (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2011), 7. 14 Ibid.
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classical guitarist that has ever lived. By the 1920s, he was touring the world to play guitar for new audiences, and continued to concertize until the 1980s. Among Segovia’s vast repertoire of transcribed pieces are possibly the most authoritative Albéniz transcriptions, including Granada, Mallorca, Oriental, and Zambra Granadina. Segovia regularly programmed pieces by Albéniz in his concerts, and so influenced the next generous of guitarists to continue playing this music and further explore its transcription and interpretation.
The monumental Albéniz pieces for guitar are not exactly the same pieces that served as milestones in his career. In Albéniz’s lifetime, the guitar was still mostly a tool of the flamenco tradition – it lacked a repertoire of true art music. The manner of distinctly Spanish nationalistic character pieces that Albéniz was writing in his middle compositional period were the perfect puzzle piece that was necessary to fill the hole in the guitar’s repertoire. Granada was one of the first Albéniz pieces transcribed for guitar by Francisco Tárrega. This piece is a serenata, and reflects the serene beauty of the city of Granada. Segovia exemplifies the great pride the whole country of Spain has in Granada when he says: "I am from Granada, because I spent all my childhood in Granada and I opened my eyes to beauty in Granada. Because when I went in the forest of the Alhambra I was always in ecstasies.” 15 Of Tárrega’s transcription, it is said that “when Albéniz heard [Tárrega] play his famous Serenata on guitar, he felt such emotion, and was so moved, that he could not help but exclaim: ‘This is what I had conceived!’”16 Mallorca, a beautiful barcarola (boat song) in D minor, depicts the rocking motion of a boat headed towards the island of Mallorca, a paradise located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain. Asturias, originally published as Preludio, was posthumously published in the collection titled
15 Graham Wade. Maestro Segovia. London: Robson Books Ltd., 1986. 16 Stanley Yates. Isaac Albéniz: 26 Pieces Arranged for Guitar. (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2011), 7.
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Suite española, op. 47. 17 The fierce cross string arpeggios in this piece and melody in the bass crescendo in dramatic tension, and the lyrical development section gives the guitar a wondrous singing quality. Sevilla is a cheerful but deep character piece based on a “sevillanas” dance rhythm from the flamenco tradition. Rasgueado-style strumming and fast falsetta-like scales build a dazzling display of virtuosity that synthesizes the rich guitar traditions of street flamenco players in Spain with the preservative possibilities of notated Western classical music.
Though there is already an established tradition of playing Albéniz on guitar, transcription and performance practice are continually evolving in order to better interpret this music. Guitarists of today are not necessarily satisfied with playing dated transcriptions by Tárrega or Segovia. Prolific transcribers of the modern era such as Manuel Barrueco and Stanley Yates have created their own versions of the standards as well as previously unplayed-on-guitar pieces, in an attempt to stay true to Albéniz’s original manuscripts or to bring out new textures and harmonies in fresh interpretations of classic pieces. Because methods of guitar technique have advanced considerably since the time of Segovia, it may now become possible to transcribe certain pieces that would have been previously thought to be unplayable on guitar. This can be seen in the transcription and performance of the Iberia suite, Albéniz’s most musically intricate and technically demanding piece, by the virtuoso Jorge Caballero.18 The fact that new innovations are still being achieved in performance and transcription proves that playing Albéniz on guitar is a dynamic art rather than simply a static tradition.
17 Stanley Yates. “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About... Albéniz’s Leyenda (Preludio-Asturias)." Accessed February 15, 2015. 18 “Jorge Caballero plays El Puerto, by Isaac Albeniz,” Youtube video, 4:01, Posted by “The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” April 30, 2013.
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so clearly in a musical form. The guitar had already been part of Spanish culture for centuries by Albéniz’s time, and it is evident that he had the guitar in mind when he was composing. This is the secret code that has made this music such a success on the guitar: when Albéniz sought to emulate Spain in his music, he naturally emulated the sounds of his country’s instrument, the guitar. Though written for piano, these pieces fall in place organically on the fretboard. Whether Albéniz predicted his compositions would live a second life on the guitar and overtake the piano versions in popularity is uncertain. However, it is certain that the guitar repertoire would be incomplete without these treasures of Spanish music, and many that have experienced the magic that is an Albéniz piece may have never heard his music if not for guitar transcriptions. This music was shaped by the mystique of the guitar, and has also served to shape the technique and identity of today’s guitarists. To track the evolution of Albéniz’s pieces in the years to come will be a fascinating showcase of the musical immortality achievable by such a beloved composer.
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Baytelman, Pola. Isaac Albéniz: Chronological List and Thematic Catalog of his Piano Works. Michigan: Harmonie Park Press, 1993. Clark, Walter Aaron. "Francisco Tárrega and the Art of Guitar Transcription." (working paper, University of California, Riverside). Clark, Walter Aaron. Isaac Albéniz: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. (Though this is mostly a reference source, the pages I've cited contain original biographical content) Clark, Walter Aaron. Isaac Albéniz: Portrait of a Romantic. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Heck, Thomas. "Tárrega, Francisco." Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online. Oxford University
Press, accessed February 15, 2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/2755 Istel, Edgar and Frederick Martens. “Isaac Albéniz.” The Musical Quarterly Vol. 15, no. 1 (1929): 117- 148. Jean-Aubry, G. "Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)." The Musical Times Vol. 58, No. 898 (Dec. 1, 1917): 535-538. “Jorge Caballero plays El Puerto, by Isaac Albéniz.” Youtube video, 4:01. Posted by “The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” April 30, 2013. https://youtu.be/9PyhiGBOrBE? list=RDOH1yOUK-fw4 Wade, Graham. Maestro Segovia. London: Robson Books Ltd., 1986. Wade, Graham. "Segovia, Andrés." Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online. Oxford University
Press, accessed February 15, 2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/2532 9
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Yates, Stanley. "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About... Albéniz’s Leyenda (PreludioAsturias)." Accessed February 15, 2015. http://www.stanleyyates.com/articles/Albéniz/leyenda.html Yates, Stanley. “Isaac Albéniz: 26 Pieces Arranged for Guitar.” Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2011.
