Tango in D

Isaac Albéniz concentrated on music for the piano, especially of the pleasant, short, salon genre, but during his lifetime he was active in works for the stage, as well. While he is inextricably connected with Spanish nationalism, and is, in some ways, often considered the most “Spanish” of Spanish composers, he eschewed authentic indigenous folk material. Rather, he crafted a style that is original, but infused with the harmonies, colors, and rhythms of his native country. Tango in D was written in 1890 as part of a larger suite for piano solo, España, and is one of the most performed of his many popular pieces. Like so many of his compositions, this was written originally for piano, and later became a warhorse of the transcribed guitar repertoire. Tonight’s version has been arranged by Maestro Buslje for cello and orchestra.

Born Martín Melitón Sarasate y Navascuéz (or Navascues) on March 10, 1844, he adopted his simpler stage name when he moved to Paris and began his career. Sarasate was a native of Pamplona in Spain's culturally distinctive and musically rich Basque region. An exceptional child prodigy on the violin, he gave his first concert at age eight, winning the admiration of the Countess Espoz y Mina, who removed any financial barrier to his studies with an annual allowance of 2,000 Spanish reales. Sarasate went to Madrid and became a favorite of Spain's royal family, but even the best teachers at the Spanish court soon found that their pupil had exceeded anything they could teach him. So, at age 11, they urged Sarasate to further his studies in Paris. On the train ride to Paris with his mother, she dies of a heart attack. He studied at the famed Paris Conservatory and in 1857 he won the Conservatory's first prize in violin. At the beginning of his career, Sarasate played mostly the established gems of the violin repertory. His real trademark as a performer was that he made even very difficult music look effortless. Sarasate's fame spread with his first tour of the Western hemisphere, which began in 1867, took him from New York to Argentina, and lasted until 1871. He made a return trip in 1889 and 1890, and he also traveled to South Africa and to the Far East. After returning to France from his first American trip, Sarasate began to attain a new level of renown with his original compositions, mostly for violin and piano. It was the music written from the mid-1870s until the end of his life that became ensconced in repertory of violinists everywhere. Much of it had a Spanish flavor, and in an age when Spanish music was considered exotic, Sarasate's pieces helped create a vogue for Spanish folk influences that would last for decades. His Gypsy Tunes of 1878 was his first major work to draw successfully on his Spanish musical heritage, and he followed that up with four sets of Spanish Dances issued in Berlin between 1878 and 1882. Sarasate also specialized in medley-like arrangements of tunes from famous operas; the best known among them was his Concert Fantasies on Carmen of 1883. All Sarasate's compositions are technically difficult, but that one poses special challenges for the violinist.

Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25

The Carmen Fantasy may be one of the most famous and best-loved works for the violin. Written in 1883, the piece is based on themes from Bizet's opera Carmen. A magnificent violinist, Sarasate was known for his dazzling technique and singing tone, both of which are noted in the Carmen Fantasy. Sarasate was gifted as a composer, and he knew how to best showcase his own talents. This piece is the pinnacle of the unique style that Sarasate established with his playing. Through the 20th century, it became the benchmark by which violin virtuosi were measured; the younger age at which a violinist could perform the piece masterfully, the more remarkable and miraculous was his talent. Interestingly, much of Sarasate's music is often discounted as being merely a technical platform for the violin soloist. But not so with Carmen Fantasy. The technical challenges of the music lie in the drama associated with the themes from the opera. The work consists of an introduction and four sections. It weaves through the sex and passion of Carmen with the violin singing, flirting, and dancing illicitly. This piece mirrors the moods and feelings of Carmen. It contains passages of passion, rage, love, betrayal, deceit, whimsy, wit, and excitement. Above all else, the piece should be enjoyed, reveled in, and loved for its simple and exhilarating form.

Rapsodia Sinfónica

This compact work is not quite the lush extravaganza the term "symphonic rhapsody" may imply. The orchestra is limited to strings and the piano sometimes falls back into an accompaniment role. Yet it's full of Iberian atmosphere, particularly in the second half, and like de Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain, it sensitively evokes a nocturnal scene in Andalusia, the gypsy-dominated area of southern Spain. The Rhapsody begins with a slow but assertive statement by the strings, punctuated by a couple piano notes. The keyboard makes its true entrance with a vaguely oriental cascade of notes, like the piano's appearance in Ravel's Left-Hand Concerto (which was premiered the same year Turina wrote this rhapsody). This Andante section continues with the piano and orchestra, uttering and answering each other's richly harmonized phrases. Occasionally, a solo violin comes forward with its own brief commentary, slick with portamento. A long passage for strings alone ultimately leads to the rhapsody's Allegro vivo section, a scherzo in which the piano takes a more prominent, flashy role. The excitement eases after a few moments, allowing a more romantic interlude, but soon the scherzo material returns with its rondeña rhythms and quickly alternating 3/4 and 6/8 passages to exciting effect. Even so, Turina moves the rhapsody toward its conclusion with a restatement of the broader, romantic material, giving the piano almost the last word with a flamenco-like flourish.

Serenata Op.87

Turina’s Serenata was originally written for string quartet between 1933 and 1935, and the string orchestra version followed in 1943. It’s a light, enjoyable work that passes through incidents adeptly, and with plenty of powerful dynamics. It begins with bold, impressionistic gestures—a tremolo and a pizzicato descent that bring out the Andalusian inspiration. The 13 short, linked sections form a coherent and creative whole, evoking uniquely Spanish character.

By the time he was 29 years old, he wrote his first masterpiece, La Vida Breve (Brief Life), a spare, tragic zarzuela about a young Gypsy woman, forsaken by her lover, who goes to his wedding feast to die. De Falla moved to France a few years after writing it, and when it was performed there in 1913, it brought him instant fame. In France, he completed several chamber works and began writing Noches en los jardines de Espãna (Nights in the Gardens of Spain) before the outbreak of war in 1914 compelled him to return to Spain. By the time he wrote Nights in the Gardens of Spain, de Falla had learned more about expanding folk sources from Russians like Rimsky-Korsakov. All his life, he continued to adopt new ideas from being exposed to other approaches to musical nationalism. The lively and cheerful El sombrero de tres picos (Three-Cornered Hat) plainly shows the influence of Stravinsky, as does the exuberant puppet opera El Retablo de Maese Pedro, which was based on an episode from Don Quixote and is often compared to Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat. 

Following the deaths of his parents in 1919, he settled in Granada, where he remained until the end of the Spanish Civil War (1939). He composed several of his most important works, including El retablo de maese Pedro (Master Peter's Puppet Show), Psyché and Concerto per clavi-cembalo (Harpsichord Concerto). An ardent pacifist, disillusioned by the Spanish Civil War and War World II, he moved to Argentina and worked there until his death in 1946, just a few days before his 70th birthday. Influenced by Latin American folk traditions, he started to write a vast oratorio, Atlántida, about the lost continent of Atlantis and the exploration of the New World. It remained unfinished at the time of his death.

Danza Ritual del Fuego from El Amor Brujo

When De Falla was asked to compose a song for the gypsy dancer and singer, Pastora Imperio, he listened to some songs sung by her mother and to some old gypsy tales by the Spanish poet Gregorio Sierra. His first composition was a small song and dance that he turned into a bigger chamber ballet that premiered in Madrid on April 15, 1915. The audience at that time was comprised of primarily gypsies and the work did not gain much attention. He expanded the work in 1927 and this time the Spanish public took notice. It was a great success. El Amor Brujo (Love, the Sorcerer) is a ballet-pantomime in one act based on a story about love, death, exorcism, and release with two main characters, the sensual Candela and the handsome Carmelo. The ghost of Candela’s first husband haunts their love affair. Candela, knowing her husband’s infidelities, entices her friend, Lucia, to flirt with the ghost and distract him from her new love affair. Lucia is successful, and Candela and Carmelo proceed to have a fulfilled relationship. El Amor Brujo and the suite derived from the ballet were stunning ambassadors to the world for the best of Spanish musical expression, freed from the mimicking of European influences. At times fiery, at times soulful, and always passionate, this music speaks perfectly to its home country and its identity. The danza ritual del fuego (ritual fire dance) lasts about 3-4 minutes. The work can be associated with 1910 Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee due to its fast, repetitive trills and ornaments. The piece was also influenced by the traditional, religious ceremony of a fire dance where people would jump through or leap around fire to worship the fire God.