UC Santa Barbara

The Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz (1860- 1909) is best known for his piano music, evocative of various locales within Spain such as Sevilla, Málaga, and Granada. Many of these pieces, including the virtuosic pieces that comprise his late magnum opus for piano, Iberia, draw inspiration from the Spanish region of Andalusia and its folklore, particularly flamenco. Due to Iberia’s success, Albéniz’s name and Spanish music in general have been associated with Andalusian folk idioms thereby making him and his Iberia an essential part of the development of Spanish nationalism. Although Albéniz was the author of several operas, zarzuelas, and other orchestral works, he is principally remembered for his early nationalistic piano compositions and Iberia.This document will discuss how the particular stylistic elements in Iberia came to be and the favorable conditions that made these pieces successfully received, particularly in France. The document will also explore the complex Spanish musical landscape during the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, as well as Spanish dependence on foreign influences and foreign approval and how these forces shaped Albéniz’s career and style. Albéniz’s music, especially in Iberia, was affected by his time living in France and his exposure to foreign trends, particularly to an exoticized image of Spain, seen as an Oriental nation, full of exotic folk traditions. This document will also argue that Albéniz was not merely a passive agent influenced by the development of these trends but a very active part of the musical and social scene at the time and that he therefore significantly influenced the trajectory of Spanish music.