Illllilllülll MONO-ML 6003

New Recordings of Three Spanish Masterpieces by Spain’s Greatest Pianist

COLUMBIA

Albéniz

Alicia de Larrocha

Stereo "360 SOUND" represents the ultímate in lísteníng enjoyment. Every aspect of recordíng actívíty has been carefully supervised by Colum- bía’s engineers and craftsmen, usíng the very

latest electronic equípment. Stereo "360 SOUND" creates the effect of surround- ¡ng the listener with gloríous, true-to-lífe active sound. It ¡s as ¡f one were sitting ¡n the fírst row center at an actual performance.

Columbía’s studios have been desígned with uníform sound characterístícs and are equípped with síxteen-channel consoles and custom-calíbrated multí-track

tape machines engineered and built to Columbía’s own specíficatíons. The mícrophones used are chosen for their individual sound properties depending upon the orchestration, the artist and the concept of the producer of the record- ing. Some of the mícrophones are: the Sony C37A; Telefunken-Neumann’s U67; U47; M49B; KM54A; KM56; the AKG’s C60, C12 and Electro Voice 655C. Only high-output tape affording máximum signal to noise ratio is used. Such tape, of great tensile strength and thickness, additionally aids in the elimination of print-through and reduction of distortion and hiss.

The reduction of the original multi-track tape to the final master tape is per-

formed on editing consoles hand-tooled by Columbia’s engineering staff to accommodate any number*of channels. The transfer of master tape to master lacquer is made via a Westrex or Ortofon cutter ¡nstalled on a Scully lathe equipped with automatic variable pitch and electronic depth Controls. Before production is begun, a master pressing is compared to the final tape (A-B checked). It is only after the recordíng has passed this critical test that Colum¬ bia’s engineers give the final approval for manufacture, secure in the knowledge that each Stereo "360 SOUND" disc will have the same full-bodied, multi- dimensional sound as that originally recorded in the studio.

Library of Congress catalog card number R64-1210 applies to this record.

STEREO "360 SOUND"

ALBENIZ: Suite Española

Pavana-Capricho

Cantos de España

ALICIA DE LARROCHA, Pianist

Stereo—MS 6603

Monaural—ML 6003

Recorded in Spain by Hispavox

In its compelling rhythms and haunting melodies, in its lyrical

and dramatic qualities, the music of Spain perfectly reflects the

contrasting moods and romantic flavor of the country. It is hardly

possible to mistake music in the Spanish idiom; it is easily recog-

nizable and impossible to confuse with that of any other culture.

This "Spanishness" is a synthesis of many elements and was first

clearly visible in the tonadilla escénica, a form of comic opera pop¬

ular during the last half of the 18th century.

For a while, however, only non-Spanish compbsers—such as

Bizet, Glinka, Lalo and Liszt — perceived the richness of this

material and utilized it in their compositions. Most Spanish com-

posers seemed content to write operas in the Italian style or count-

less light Spanish musical comedies called zarzuelas. Spain, which

had during the 16th and 17th centuries occupied a serious and

important place in the musical world, now suffered a sharp decline.

It was not until Isaac Albéniz appeared on the scene that a mod-

ern Spanish composer was successfully able to transíate the spirit of

Spanish folk music into an art form. Enrique Granados and Manuel

de Falla, among others, were soon to follow the same path, but it

was Albéniz who first raised the position of Spanish music again

to the important position in Europe that it had once held.

In Albéniz' early nomad life, highly romantic and adventurous,

there is a colorfui, picaresque quality which bespeaks the very

essence of Spain. A child prodigy, Albéniz gave his first concert at

the age of four and was composing at the age of seven. When he

was six, after studying with Marmontel in París, he took the ex-

amination to enter the París Conservatory. He played brilliantly,

but then as an encore proceeded to throw a ball through a window-

pane, an act which did little to endear him to the examining pro-

fessors, who decided to wait a couple of years before accepting

him as a student.

For his concerts, he would be dressed in a musketeer uniform,

and it was either out of rebellion against this "disgrace" or perhaps

as a result of his reading of Jules Verne's stories that as a child

he was twice prompted to run away from home. His adventures

matched any of those depicted by Jules Verne or Cervantes: once

he was robbed by highwaymen in northern Spain. Another time,

hearing that he was going to be sent home, he sneaked aboard a

steamship en route to Puerto Rico; the passengers got up a collec-

tion for him which took him as far as Buenos Aires. During these

years of impulsive behavior he worked for a spell at a waterfront

saloon in New York, playing piano with the backs of his fingers in

order to attract more customers and more cash.

He returned to Europe in his teens to study with Reinecke in

Leipzig, Liszt in Weimar and Rome, and at the Brussels Conserva¬

tory (where he easily won first prize for piano playing). Although

there were periods of serious study and successful concertizing

during those years, he was 23 before he began to settle down; the

bohemian phase of his life finally carne to an end when he married

in 1883. All his life, however, Albéniz was to retain a gaiety and

exuberance that impressed all who knew him.

1883 was also the year during which Albéniz began studying with

the famed nationalistic pedagogue and opera composer, Felipe

Pedrell, who inculcated in him a sense of Spain's past and the im-

portance of composing music that was truly "Spanish." A second

major turning point in his life carne ten years later, when he de¬

cided to settle in París. Here, influenced and encouraged by the

Alicia de Larrocha, one of the foremost pianists of the

present generation, was born in Barcelona, Spain. She

began her concert career at the age of five and has since

captivated audiences throughout Europe, the United

States and Cañada. Enthusiastic reviews greeted her

American debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in

1954, and, after her 1955 premiére performance in New

York, Harold Schoenberg of the New York Times wrote

that her artistry was ". . . difficult to overpraise." He

called special attention to her authoritative interpreta-

tion of Spanish music: "Obviously this music was in the

pianist's blood. She invested it with a degree of life and

imagination that not many pianists before the public to-

day could begin to duplícate."

Columbia Records is proud to present Alicia de Lar-

rocha in a second recordíng of works by Isaac Albéniz.

(Previously recorded: Iberia; Navarra—M2L 268)

European composers with whom he became friendly, Albéniz began

to write music of larger scope and greater complexity, which

finally culminated in the writing of his most enduring masterpiece,

the collection of 12 piano pieces entitled Iberia.

PAVANA-CAPRICHO

Although Iberia was his crowning achievement, many of his

earlier piano works, simpler in construction, were also highly ac-

claimed. His genius is observable in even his simplest and most

quickly-written pieces. He reportedly wrote Pavana-Capricho in

order to earn fifteen pesetas so that he could see a local bullfight,

but despite the haste and the extra-musical motive, the music ap-

pears natural and charming.

As Albéniz toured Spain he imbibed the color and the atmosphere

of each particular province that he visited. Of his more than 250

piano pieces, over half of them bear the ñame of the particular area

he was visiting at the time. Although he was born in Catalonia, the

región that most inspired him and with which he could most

strongly identify was Andalusia—that Southern portion of Spain

whose exotic atmosphere and music owe so much to the Moors who

inhabited it more than four centuries ago. Andalusian folk music

is a combination of various Arabic, Gypsy and Hebraic elements,

and Albéniz incorporated many of these in his music. His tech-

nique, however, was to suggest, rather than copy, the sound of

guitar and castanets, and his melodies were entirely his own. So

successful was he in mirroring the land and the people, that in

many parts of Southern Spain his music has become as popular as

the native folk music. SUITE ESPAÑOLA

Granada, the last stronghold of the Moslem empire in Spain,

surrendered in 1492 to Ferdinand and Isabel. The magnificent

Alhambra overlooking the city is the chief monument of the culture

of that empire, and few viewers of its filigreed splendor have been

able to resist the awe and beauty of its architecture and setting.

Albéniz was no exception. His Granada invokes the mood of the

city and its citadel in a sweet nostalgic serenade. Sudden changes

from minor to major tonality suggest a distinctly Moorish touch.

Cataluña is, with the exception of Catalonia, the only music

Albéniz ever dedicated to his native district. In it we hear a

sardana, a communal dance typical of Catalonia and symbolic of

the strong national feeling of the province.

Sevilla, the capital of Andalusia, was one of the main cultural

centers of both Visigothic and later Moslem Spain. Located in

Sevilla is the Alcázar, which was at one time a fortified castle, and

is another example of the high achievement of Moorish architec¬

ture. Albéniz' Sevilla is one of his most popular pieces and shows

the two contrasting sides of the city: one, rhythmic, dynamic and

joyful, the other, mystical and romantic.

Cádiz, also known as Serenata Española, has both the orna¬

mental triplets so typical of middle-eastern music and the evocation

of a strumming guitar.

In Aragón, we hear a fantasy based on the jota, one of the most

popular and important dances of northern Spain. The best known

is the jota of Aragón, the jota Aragonesa. The jota is danced by a

couple facing each other, holding castanets at arm's length, moving

back and forth in an almost hostile manner, although it is basically

a dance of courtship. Chateaubriand described the dance as "woven

together out of passionate sighs."

Originally, there were three other pieces in this suite. Two of

them, Asturias and Castilla, are heard here in Cantos de España,

under the titles Preludio and Seguidillas; the third, Cuba, has the

same beginning as Bajo la Palmera. (Albéniz very often duplicated

certain numbers, putting them in more than one collection.)

CANTOS DE ESPAÑA

The first piece. Preludio, is one of strong contrasts: at times it

is spirited, with an insistent repetition of notes and an impulsive

beat, while at other times it is plaintive. Here, as elsewhere, the

playing of a guitar is suggested without actually being imitated.

Both Oriental and Bajo la Palmera (Under the Palm Tree) are

charming, melodious compositions, but it is in the oft-praised

Córdoba that Albéniz is said to have shown his greatest genius. He

set the mood by prefacing the music with these words:

"In the silence of the night, interrupted by the murmur of

the breezes made aromatic by the jasmine, the guzlas

sound, accompanying the serenades and spreading in the

air ardent melodies and notes as sweet as the swaying of

the palm trees in the sky."

When it was built, no edifice of the Moslem world matched the

magnificence of the great Mosque of Córdoba, later enlarged by

the Christians and made into a cathedral. We are reminded of this

cathedral in the quiet, lithurgical quality of the nocturne that be-

gins the piece. A rather spirited dance follows and is interrupted

by a beautiful melody heard to the accompaniment of plucked

Moorish guzlas (primitive wooden stringed instruments).

There is a distinct change of pace in the last piece. Seguidillas.

There are many varieties of the seguidilla, depending upon and

usually named after the locality in which it is danced. It is a

bright, lively dance portrayed here in all its spirit, charm, color

and vivacity. JUDITH GILMAN

SIDE 1 ALBÉNIZ: SUITE ESPAÑOLA THE SELECTIONS—PUBLIC DOMAIN-

. 4:52

- ARE FOLLOWED BY THEIR TIMINGS SIDE II ALBÉNIZ: CANTOS DE ESPAÑA Preludio (Asturias). . 6:22

. 2:29 . 3:28

. 4:37 Bajo la Palmera (Cuba). . 4:09

. 4:50 Córdoba. . 4:02 . 2:50

ALBÉNIZ: PAVANA-CAPRICHO. . 3:30

24:37 23:00

Cover photo courtesy of Hispavox ®-COLUMBIA','MASTERWORKS' H MARCAS REG. PRINTED IN U.SA

4

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ALBENIZ:

UNTOS OE ESPAÑA

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