Isaac Albéniz
Late Romantic · 1860–1909
Isaac Albéniz began as a wandering piano prodigy, touring Spain as a boy in the 1860s and 70s and picking up a taste for adventure that colored the tall tales he later told about his youth. Born in Camprodon, in Catalonia, in 1860, he eventually settled abroad, first in London and then in Paris, where he moved in the same circles as Debussy and Fauré.
The paradox of his life is that his greatest music about Spain was written far from it. Working in Paris in his final years, ill and often in pain, he composed Iberia, twelve piano pieces that evoke Spanish places, dances, and street sounds, most of them Andalusian. The music is ferociously difficult to play and endlessly atmospheric to hear, and it made his reputation for good. He died in 1909.
Start with a few pieces from Iberia, then the earlier Suite española, whose movements are more approachable postcards from the same country.
59 works in the catalog, across 4 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Asturias, for guitar
- Castilla, for two guitars
- Rumores de la caleta, for guitar
Keyboard
- Cantos de España, op. 232
- Iberia Suite, B.47 Books 1-4
- Suite española no. 1, op. 47, B.7
- 2 Character Pieces: Spanish National Songs, op. 164
- 6 Danzas españolas, B.23
- 6 Mazurkas de salon, for piano, op. 66, B.12
- 6 Valses Pequeños, op. 25
- 7 Estudios en los tonos naturales mayores, op. 65, B.11
- 12 Piezas caracteristicas, op. 92
- Angustia: Romanza sin palabras
- Arbola-pian, zortzico
- Azulejos
- Balbina Valverde, polka, for piano
- Barcarole Catalane in D flat major, op. 23, B.2, "Primera barcarolla"
- Berceuse, for piano, T.114 bis
- Cadix-gaditana, for piano
- Champagne, vals, for piano
- Chant d'amour, op. 202
- Deseo, estudio de concierto, op. 40
- Diva sin par, mazurka for piano
- España, B.45
- España: 6 hojas de album, op. 165, B.37
- Estudio impromptu, for piano, op. 56
- Improvisation I
- L'Automne-Valse, op. 170
- Les saisons, for piano, op. 201
- Mallorca, op. 202
- Marcha militar
- Mazurka de salon, T.81
- Mazurka de salon in D minor, op. 96, B.31/2, "Ricordatti"
- Mazurka de salon in E flat major, op. 95, B.31/1, "Amalia"
- Pavana fácil para manos pequeñas, for piano in C minor, op. 83, B.28
- Pavanna capricho, op. 12
- Piano Sonata no. 4 in A major, op. 72, B.20
- Recuerdos, mazurka for piano, op. 80
- Recuerdos de viaje, op. 71
- Reves, for piano, op. 101
- Rhapsodia cubana, op. 66, B.13
- Serenata arabe, for piano
- Serenata española in D flat major, op. 181, B.39
- Serenata árabe in A minor, B.5
- Sonata no. 3 in A major, op.68
- Sonata no. 5 in G flat major, op. 82, B.27
- Sous le palmier, tango flamenco in E flat major
- Suite ancienne, op. 54
- Suite antigua no. 2, op. 64, B.10
- Suite antigua no. 3, B.21
- Suite española no. 2, B.32
- Yvonne en visite
- Zambra granadina in D minor, B.42
Orchestral
- Excerpts from Suite Española
- Iberia Suite, for orchestra
- Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 78, "Concierto fantastico"
- Rapsodia española, for piano and orchestra, op. 70
Stage
- Merlin Opera
- Pepita Jiménez
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