Born in Catalonia, Isaac Albeniz was a colourful character who
showed almost unnatural musical talent; he gave Ins first piano
recital at the age of four. His father, sensing the financial
potential of such a prodigy, took him to Paris in 1867 hoping to
enrol him at the Conservatoire. After exciting great admiration at
his audition, the high-spirited boy spoiled the impression by
throwing a ball through the window, whereupon the authorities
refused to accept him. Two years later, he entered the
Conservatoire in Madrid, but soon tired of the discipline and ran
away, travelling around Spain and giving recitals. After stowing
away on a ship bound for South America, he continued his itinerant
musical life, giving performances in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil,
Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States, before finally returning
to Spam in 1873.
His youthful energies having diminished somewhat, Albeniz
embarked upon a period of intense study in Paris, Leipzig, and
Brussels. He realized a long-standing ambition in 1878, when he
had the opportunity to work with his childhood idol, Liszt. By now
a pianist of phenomenal capabilities, he toured Europe and, again,
South America and became renowned for performing works by Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann,
as well as his own compositions.
In 1883 he married and settled down. He met the Spanish
nationalist composer and musicologist, Felipe Pedrell, who played
a great part in encouraging Albeniz's interest in Spanish folk
culture; in 1886 he produced the piano piece Suite espanola,
in which Pedrell's influence is evident. Albeniz spent three
years in London from 1890 to 1893, then moved to Paris, where he
became acquainted with a circle of well-known composers, including
Faurc, Debussy, and Dukas. While there he wrote his popular piece
for piano, Cantos de Espana, which combines the dazzling
virtuosity typical of Liszt with the rhythmic verve of Spanish
folk dances.
The years from 1906 until his death in 1909 were spent
composing a colourful and exotic suite for the piano entitled
Iberia. It consists of 12 pieces of astounding technical
difficulty and has become immensely popular. Invigorating and
passionate, the music indisputably stands as Albeniz's crowning
achievement as a composer. Like his other works, Iberia
presents a refreshingly individual view of the central European
Romantic tradition by combining it with the panache and vitality
of Spanish popular music.
