The work that Albéniz began and Granados finished

Posted by Marcel Soleda on December 22, 2010  |  1 Comment

“Azulejos is really delightful. Rosina has given me the original copy by Isaac and I treasure it. But I’m happy to share it with you. Would you like a copy? I’ll send you the original of what I’ve written.”

This is how the letter ends that Enrique Granados sent to Joaquim Malats in 1910 about Azulejos, an exquisite piano work that the maestro Isaac Albéniz had left unfinished and which would have constituted the beginning of a second suite, following the success of the Suite Iberia. Granados began at bar 51 and left it with its present 154 bars in a masterly exercise in composition, where he is faithful to his own style but at the same time does not betray the original spirit Albéniz’s work.

The finished work was published in 1911 by Édition Mutuelle in Paris. The original manuscripts were separated and have been held up to the present day in the Museum of Music of Barcelona and the Biblioteca de Catalunya, respectively. However the central sheet which contains the union of the two parts got lost and finally appeared in a collection of autograph scores. Probably owing to its peculiarity, it was removed, framed and exhibited at the Institut del Teatre.

As a result of this discovery the Biblioteca de Catalunya prepared a special edition, with score and facsimile of the original, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the composition of this work.

This new edition has been used to record the CD Azulejos, música de cámara, which, as well as the performance of Azulejos by the pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier, contains the Quintet in G minor and the Trío in C by Enrique Granados, performed by Santiago Juan and Cristian Benito, violin; Alejandro Garrido, viola; and Màrius Díaz, violoncello.

Listen to it here >

New edition of the Complete Works for voice and piano by Isaac Albéniz

Posted by Leticia Martin on September 25, 2009  |  Leave a comment

To mark the centenary of Isaac Albéniz’s death, Tritó Publishers has issued a new revised edition of this composer’s complete works for voice and piano, a key repertoire among the Spanish music from all periods.

It is hoped that this long-awaited new edition will be as successful as the previous one, published over ten years ago. It continues the line initiated with the publication of another important set of complete works for voice and piano, the songs of Enrique Granados.

In this edition particular mention should be made of the inclusion of the translations of the original lyrics to English, Catalan and Spanish, and also the phonetic transcription made by Oriol Gil Sanchís. The introductory study has also been reviewed, enlarged and updated by its author, Jacinto Torres, one of the foremost experts on this composer.

The publication includes five poems by Becquer for recital with piano accompaniment, along with later versions by Albéniz for singer and piano. It also includes six salon romances in Italian, four songs on French poems with modernist and symbolist aesthetics, and most important of all, the set of the sixteen songs based on poems by his English patron Francis B. Money-Coutts.

Albéniz’s piano music has often overshadowed the rest of his musical output. Among his songs and lieder there are very different pieces, ranging from salon romances to French impressionist songs and recited works with piano accompaniment. This compilation of works – some of them hitherto unpublished – provides a novel overview of this composer.

For further information about this issue…

Piano works by Jesús Rueda, a novelty from Naxos in September

Posted by Leticia Martin on September 13, 2009  |  1 Comment

With symphonies, string quartets, chamber concertos, operas and a great deal of piano music to his name, Jesús Rueda is one of the most representative composers of Spanish music alive today. His piano works, performed by Ananda Sukarlan on this recording, are on the virtuoso lines of composers such as Chopin, Liszt, Ravel and Prokofiev.

His piano compositions range from the dazzling firework display present in Mephisto, based on Liszt’s first waltz, to the two sonatas, the second of which is influenced by jazz and Bali Kecak dance rhythms from Indonesia, to the delightfully sensual tonal palette

of the 24 interludes, and Invenciones, a relatively simple piece with special appeal for children.

This is very personal music where classical languages and contemporary elements are brought together to create richly expressive and communicative music.

See the complete works by Jesús Rueda…

Cuaderno para un aniversario

Posted by Marcel Soleda on December 1, 2008  |  Leave a comment

The Fundación Guerrero has published the score Cuaderno para un aniversario in which it has tried to link together the two main principles that have marked its work during the last 25 years: the defence of the musical heritage left by Jacinto Guerrero and the promotion of Spanish music, in particular the most contemporary.

To this end, ten composer who have been associated with the Foundation during these years were commissioned the composition of piano works based on themes by Guerrero. Among the composers there are some winners of the Foundation awards given to the best students in composition graduated from the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música in Madrid, others who have won the Fundación Guerrero Music Prize, and others who are currently sponsors of the Foundation itself.

As well as the scores themselves Cuaderno para un aniversario includes a recording of these made by the winner of the last Foundation piano competition, the pianist Xiaofeng Wu, and also a preliminary study by

Antonio Gallego in Spanish and English. The Fundación Canal collaborated on the project by ceding its auditorium for the recording.

Content:

Raquel Rodríguez Fernández – Imprevisaciones sobre temas de Jacinto Guerrero

Tomás Marco – Quodlibet (sobre dos fragmentos de Jacinto Guerrero)

Alicia Díaz de la Fuente – Homenaje

Miguel del Barco – Glosando al Maestro Guerrero

Antón García Abril – Variaciones líricas (sobre un tema de “La montería”)

Daniel Roca Arencibia – Reflexiones sobre un motivo de Jacinto Guerrero

Francisco Novel Sámano – Variaciones libres

José María Sánchez-Verdú – Estudio núm. 2

Luis de Pablo – Caricatura amistosa

Pilar Jurado – De campanas y rosas

1. Imprevisaciones sobre temas de Jacinto Guerrero

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2. Quodlibet (sobre dos fragmentos de Jacinto Guerrero)

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3. Homenaje

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4. Glosando al maestro Guerrero

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5. Variaciones líricas

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Published Fantasia for Tuba and Piano

Posted by Leticia Martin on October 28, 2008  |  Leave a comment

“Fantasia for Tuba and piano” by Bartolomé Pérez Casas, probably one of the earliest works ever written for these two instruments, is now available from the Tritó catalogue. The project to publish this landmark work for the tuba entailed a major research effort by both the publisher and reviser Miguel Moreno Guna, from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, to find the composer’s original manuscript as well as the historical documentation essential for the best possible recreation of the score.

Bartolomé Pérez Casas was a leading figure in Spanish music in the first half of the twentieth century, as director of the Royal Lancers Corps Band, professor of harmony at the Royal Conservatory in Madrid, founder and director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Madrid and director of the Spanish National Orchestra between 1942 and 1947. His knowledge of wind instruments and his music teaching skills make this an essential piece in the tuba repertoire.

Fully published the work of Manuel Castillo

Posted by Leticia Martin on October 28, 2008  |  Leave a comment

Thanks to an agreement with the Music Documentation Centre of the Government of Andalusia, Tritó is publishing the complete works of Manuel Castillo (1927-2005). The latest release, Piano Concerto No. 2, was composed in 1966 and premiered in the Auditorium of the Ministry of Information and Tourism and the Teatro de la Zarzuela in January 1967 with the composer at the piano with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra.
This concerto is the least known of the three that the Sevillian composer wrote for the piano, and in the words of Thomas Marco “lies between the youthful first and masterful third.”

“El Puerto” by Albéniz orchestrated by Jesús Rueda

Posted by Cristina Martí on July 30, 2008  |  Leave a comment

This year’s Peralada Festival provides the setting for the Cadaqués Orchestra’s premiere of the fourth orchestration, done by the Madrid composer Jesús Rueda, of Albéniz’s Suite Iberia.
Suite Iberia is one of the best-known works by Isaac Albéniz. Originally written for piano, its scenes of Hispanic references have been orchestrated several times, but this is the first adaptation for classical orchestra. Rueda’s profound feeling for the music of Albéniz has produced orchestrations of Triana, Evocación, Lavapiés and now El Puerto that demonstrate tonal and musical richness.
In addition to El Puerto, the Peralada Festival concert, this 5 August, also features Evocación, under the direction of maestro Neville Marriner, principal guest conductor of the Cadaqués Orchestra.

Ricard Viñes on the piano

Posted by Redacción on July 21, 2008  |  Leave a comment

This CD presents the complete recordings of Ricard Viñes from 1929 to 1936. While the relatively small selection of pieces he recorded does not do justice to his vast repertoire, it remains an excellent sampling of his art.

The CD includes the recording of the speech given by Viñes on 18 March 1938 during a radio programme in which he tells anecdotes about his friendship with Claude Debussy.

Scarlatti: Sonata en re

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Albéniz: Dos danzas españolas

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Benet Casablancas’ Complete Piano Works on Naxos

Posted by Redacción on June 26, 2008  |  Leave a comment

Naxos, one of the leading record labels today, has just published the complete works for piano by Benet Casablancas, performed by Jordi Masó and Miquel Villalba.

In recent years, Casablancas (born in 1956 in the town of Sabadell, near Barcelona) has confirmed his status as one of the most active and important composers in Spain today.

His solid background in music and the humanities has enabled him to develop a highly personal language that, despite being firmly based on knowledge of and love for the great classical tradition (with the Second Viennese School as one of his key points of reference), is open a wide range of influences, which he is able to assume without resorting to eclectic devices.

The selection presented here brings together virtually all the works for piano Casablancas has composed. This recording testifies to a mature and very complete oeuvre, while undoubtedly heralding works of great interest yet to come.

There are avalable scores for this CD.

Hèctor Parra at the Earplay Ensemble Season

Posted by Marcel Soleda on May 19, 2008  |  Leave a comment

Trio Wortschatten by Hèctor Parra, winner of the 2007 Earplay Donald Aird Memorial Composition Competition, will be performed by the Earplay Ensemble this 28 May at the San Francisco Arts Festival.

“Trio Wortschatten” for violin, cello and piano was selected from among 169 works from 27 countries by a specialized jury. And in addition to the monetary award, the Earplay Ensemble, one of the most prestigious ensembles in the US, will be including the piece in its programme this season.