Isaac Albéniz

Iberia and Espana

Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909) began his musical life as a piano prodigy in Barcelona at the age of four, and it is as a prolific composer of solo works for the pianoforte that we must celebrate him most. This Dover edition presents two of Albeniz' best known works in authoritative editions: the piano suite Iberia, generally considered to be his masterpiece; and the album leaves Espana, which contain the 'Tango', his most popular individual work. Iberia is a collection of twelve musical scenes of Spanish life, principally Andalusian, written between 1906 and 1909. Its brilliant and complex character is suffused with the rhythms and harmonies of Spanish popular music, to which Albeniz turned for inspiration in the last years of his life. Espana, an earlier work first published in 1890, is made up of six piano pieces that subtly reflect the influences of the piano literature of the 19th century-salon, and, like Iberia, the harmony and style of Impressionism, which Albeniz undeniably helped to establish.