Isaac Albeniz

Born on 29 May 1860 in Camprodon, Catalonia, Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual composed largely romantic salon pieces for piano as well as operas and zarzuelas. Though he never composed for guitar, his piano works have notably been transcribed for that instrument. Before traveling too far it should be mentioned that Albeniz is sometimes catalogued by a couple of systems in addition to Opus numbers: "B" numbering is from Pola Baytelman-Dobry's 1993 'Isaac Albéniz: A Chronological List and Thematic Catalog of His Piano Works'. "T" numbering is from Jacinto Torres' 2002 'Catálogo sistematico descriptivo de las obras musicales de Isaac Albéniz'.

Albéniz had begun playing piano at age four. As his father was a customs agent, requiring him to travel abroad, one could say that Albeniz became an international performer at age twelve, traveling with his father and sister, Clementine. His first known composition, 'Marcha Militar', appeared in 1868, published in 1869. In 1876 Albinez entered the Leipzig Conservatory, later the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He traveled to Budapest in 1880 to study with Franz Liszt, but missed him, as Liszt was in Weimar, Germany. Perhaps his most important musical association was Spanish composer, Felipe Pedrell, which teacher he met in 1883 and who persuaded him to compose in terms of a Spanish national identity, long time coming. From that time to 1886 Albeniz produced more than fifty piano pieces instrumentally based on guitar.

The guitar had largely evolved in Spain during the Renaissance, was the favored folk instrument there, and was indeed to become bound up with Spain's identity in both classical and flamenco. Probably all of Albeniz' piano works have been transcribed for guitar, one example being 'Sevilla' Op 47 No.3 which he performed on piano in Paris on 24 January 1885. Albeniz himself thought that some of his pieces for piano worked better on guitar. 'Sevilla' was part of a greater work written from 1882 to 1889 to eventually consist of eight movements, 'Suite Española No.1'. Op 47 No.5 is 'Asturias'. This was originally published in 1892 as the 'Prelude' to 'Chants d'Espagne' Op 232. After Albeniz' death 'Asturias' was added by a publisher as No.5 to 'Suite Española No.1' (not Albeniz' idea). Albeniz' 'Suite Española No.2' Op 97 [IMSLP] would arrive in 1888 (preceding the addition of 'Asturias' to Op 47).

'Asturias'   Op 47 No.5 in G minor   Leyenda by Isaac Albeniz

Comp 1891   Added to Op 47 sometime after Albeniz' death

Arranged for guitar: Ana Vidovic

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