Suite española

Albéniz was one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. Aged just nine, he set off with his father on a series of sell-out concert tours. Following lessons with Felip Pedrell in 1883, he turned with equal success to composition, rapidly establishing himself at the forefront of the new Spanish nationalist movement. Amongst his earliest successes was the Suite española, originally planned in 1886 as a suite of eight pieces. In the event only four were published, each named after a particular region and the musical form for which it is famous: “Granada (Serenata)”, “Cataluña (Corranda)”, “Sevilla (Sevillanas)” and “Cuba (Capricho)”. It wasn’t until 1912, after the composer’s death, that the Leipzig-based publisher Hofmeister hit upon the idea of realising Albéniz’ original intentions and added a further four pieces culled from various sources, naming them “Cádiz (Saeta)”, “Asturias (Leyenda)”, “Aragón (Fantasia)” and “Castilla (Seguidillas)”. Several have since become popular in solo guitar arrangements, and the entire suite was orchestrated in spectacular style by Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.