ISAAC ALBENIZ

By: Amelia Dawn Solis

ISAAC MANUEL FRANCISCO ALBENIZ

Born: May 29th, 1860 Died: May 18th, 1909

BACKGROUND• Isaac Manuel Francisco Albeniz

was born on May 29, 1860 in Camprodón, Gerona, located in northeastern Spain.

• Isaac first learned elements of playing the piano when barely out of the crib from his sister.

• His first public performance was in Barcelona at the young age of

four!

• He was forced to practice relentlessly by his father who was a tax collector determined to make

him a prodigy.

THE YOUNG ALBENIZ•At age six, Isaac’s mother took him to Paris to study for nine months with celebrated pedagogue and piano professor at the Paris Conservatory, Antoine Francois Marmontel.

•Although he passed all examinations to enroll in the Conservatory brilliantly, he happened to smash a mirror while playing ball, and was postponed admission two years!

•His father had him returned to Spain, whereupon Isaac gave many concerts and published his first composition, “Marcha Militar”.

•In 1868 he moved to Madrid and entered what is known currently as the Royal Conservatory.

• Legend has it that the young Albeniz, reading tales of Jules Verne and feeling the enticement, became rebellious and ran away from home beginning a concert tour, “on his own” all over Spain.

• His most exciting adventure was being robbed by highwaymen on the road from Zamora to Toro.

• Rumor has it that while in Cadiz, the governor threatened to arrest him if he didn’t return home to his father.

LEGENDS & ADVENTURE•Panic stricken, Isaac embarked on the steamship Espãna, as a stowaway bound for Puerto Rico, but was set ashore at the first port, Buenos Aires.

•He lived as a vagrant until he had help organizing a series of concerts that made a great sum of money, letting him embark to Cuba at thirteen.

•By fate, his father(now a custom’s agent) was transferred to Havana.

•Upon seeing Isaac, he relinquished his parental authority, seeing that his son was independent and rich.

•Isaac went on to New York, but his money ran out, so he began working as a dock porter, and was said to be seen playing in waterfront dives with the backs of his fingers while facing away from the piano!

•He made enough money to go on to San Francisco, and eventually pay his way back to Europe.

•As fun as these tales are, much debate has arisen over certain facts.

TRUTH & REALITY

•It’s true, the young Albeniz did perform in the New World in the Spring of 1875, giving a string of concerts in Puerto Rico.

•In all reality though, during the same dates indicated, he most likely traveled with his father.

•The records show that the night before his father’s scheduled departure from Cadiz, due to a transfer, Albeniz gave a performance in Cadiz.

TEENAGE STUDIES

• At fifteen years, young Albeniz returned to Spain and seemed to go through the change of child prodigy to more thoughtful composer and artist.

• He enrolled in 1876 at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, where many great composers such as Schumann and Bach once lived.

• Here, he studied composition with Salamon Jadassohn, and piano with Louis Maas (both were students of Franz Liszt).

• Due to lack of funds, lack of skill with the German language, and a dislike of the rigorous disciplining by the teachers, Isaac only spent two months before returning to Spain where he obtained a royal stipend (sum of money) from Alfonzo XII for study at the Brussels Conservatoire.

DREAM OF LISZT•In 1879 Albeniz graduated the Brussels Conservatory with first place in piano.

•As most people do, the young Albeniz had a dream. His dream was to meet and study with the great pianist and composer, Franz Joseph Liszt.

•At the age of 20 he left Brussels for Budapest where he intended to fulfill his dream, but was met with great disappointment.

•There was a journal entry of Isaac’s mentioning meeting Liszt for a day, but the dates are inconsistent with records found, indicating that the entry was merely to placate his father who funded the excursion.

END OF BOHEMIANISM

• 1883 marks the year of a great turning point in Isaac’s life from rebellious child to complete mature musician.

• This is the year he began to take lessons(in truth, they were more like conversations) from the “Father of Spanish Music,” Felipe Pedrell.

• Albeniz was deeply impressed by Pedrell’s conviction of Spiritual Orientation, and Spanish Nationalism in Music(the belief that Spanish composers should write Spanish music).

• It is also noted that this was the year that Isaac married his pupil, Rosita Jordana whom he eventually had three children with.

INNER SANCTUM• His career peaked in Madrid during the years 1889-1892

where he was established a piano teacher and virtuoso.

• Albeniz settled his family in Paris where he became acquainted with a group of “serious musicians,” men with “high ideals and complete mastery of their medium.”

• These men, Vincent d’Indy, Ernest Chausson, Charles Bordes, and eventually Paul Dukas and Gabriel Fauré, were a musical support group for each other (encouraging creativity, etc.) Together they formed an “Inner Sanctum” at the Schola Cantorum where Albeniz taught piano.

•Pact of Faust means, “Deal with the devil,” and in this story, gives insight to how Albeniz felt during this point in his life.

•Francis Burdett Money-Coutts, a wealthy amateur poet and playwright, longed to have “his words set to music and stage.”

•He offered Albeniz a hefty salary to set his dramas, and only his drama’s, to music.

PACT OF FAUST

•This pact enabled Albeniz to live out the rest of his life in comfort, but also caused him great agony.

•Together they created 3 Operas, only one (Pepita Jimenez)of which was considered even remotely a success.

OPERAS

•Many of Albeniz’ early stage works have been lost, or were never finished, but there are a few noteworthy drama’s.

•The Magic Opal was a comic opera and one of his first works, created in 1883.

•Henry Clifford was a historical romance written by Money-Coutts written in 1895.

•Pepita Jimenez was the most successful of his Opera’s created in 1896 with Money-Coutts.

•Last was “Merlin”, the first of three Opera’s in a succession and commissioned by Money-Coutts, but the only one to be completed.

PIECES•Albeniz turned out hundreds of piano pieces with fluency in earlier years, and many more as a “serious musician.”

•Some of his most famous works were, Leyenda, Tango in D, Chants d’Espagne, Córdoba, Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, La Vega, and Asturias.

•Though many of his works have a Spanish feel to them, it may be surprising to know that his music lacked any Spanish influence until he was 23 and studying with the great Pedrell.

• Soon after 1900, Albeniz began suffering from what was known as “Bright’s Disease,” (a form of kidney disease with several classifications.) It eventually took his life.

• During this time, he also went through a great depression due to the fact that his wife was suffering from a serious illness, and one of his daughters died.

BRIGHT’S DISEASE

IBERIA

•Iberia was Albeniz’ final masterpiece written between 1905 and 1909 subtitled, “twelve new impressions.”

•These twelve piano pieces were divided up into four books and thought of by many as his greatest works.

•Much of his inspiration for these songs came from Andalusian music, and rhythmic dances called fandango (an animated Spanish or Spanish-American dance in triple time.)

END OF LIFE

•In March 1909 Albeniz moved his family to Cambo-les-Bains in the French Pyrenees where he finally died of his affliction on May 18, 1909.

•His body was moved to the Southwest Churchyard in Barcelona where he was buried.

PERSONALITY

•In his young years, we can definitely extrapolate that Albeniz was wildly independent and always looking for adventurer.

•In his later years, he was described as “a kind and generous man with a keen sense of humor, an extrovert who was loved and respected by all who knew him”

GREATEST CONTRIBUTION

•Albeniz took his generation into the next century, especially with his latter works.

•His musical melodies were able to spike people’s attention for longer periods of time, and so he was able to build longer, more captivating pieces.

•He really allowed the entire world to honor Spanish music and let it bring them together.

A D V E N T U R E , R O M A N T I C I S M , A N D A G O O D C I G A R !

ENDING IMPRESSIONS

I really was “impressed” by this daring composer. I related to his strict background and therefore, his creative but rebellious nature. It is beautiful to see how his life turned into a true virtuoso’s career despite his early vagrant years. I respect that he was able to live his dream, and support himself at such a young age, and that he eventually emerged into a truly ripened musician. I also deeply respect his faithfulness to his wife and family. There is no mention of infidelity or great corruption beyond his rockier youthful years. Albeniz is still inspiration today mainly because his music will never die.

•Barulich, Frances M. "Isaac Albeniz." Mac McClure. Macmcclure.com, 26 Sept. 2001. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. <ww.macmcclure.com/compositors/Albeniz/bioeng.html>.

•Chase, Gilbert. "Albeniz and Granados." The Music of Spain. 2nd ed. New York: Dover Publications, 1959. 150-49. Print.

•Fineman, Yale. Alhambrismo. Rep. University of Maryland, 2004. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. <www.lib.umd.edu/PAL/YALE/albeniz2.html>.

BIBLIOGRAPHY•Asturias by Isaac Albeniz. Photograph. Music Aloud. Musicaloud.com, 11 Sept. 2009. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <www.musicaloud.com/2009/09/11/a-song-a-day-asturias>.

•Isaac Albeniz. Photograph. Naxos. Naxos Digital Services Ltd, 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. <www.naxos.com/person/Isaac_Albeniz/17616.htm>.

•Isaac Albéniz Amb La Seva Filla. Photograph. Enciclopedia.cat. Grup Enciclopedia Catalana, SAU, 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. <www.enciclopedia.cat/fotoGran.htm>.