Response to Ben Cross on Isaac Albéniz' Suite Española

Ben has done an excellent job analyzing Albéniz’ piano suite, and as I read his listening journal his thoughts sparked an interest in listening to and learning more about Albéniz’ work.

When Ben mentioned that Albéniz was instrumental in distributing the folk music of Spain, I decided to learn a bit more about how folk music was used in Albéniz’ work. I know that many nationalistic composers have achieved a national sound without even using folk music. In Albéniz’ case, it was clear that he used traditionally Spanish dance forms to achieve a Spanish sound, but did he use folk music in other ways? It turns out that Albéniz’ did not actually use recognizable folk tunes in his music, unlike his teacher Felipe Pedrell, but took rhythms and harmonies from the folk music that was around him in Spain and used them all throughout his music.

I disagree with one of Ben’s opinions, that Albéniz’ characterization of Spain makes the country seem as boring like a drive across Kansas. As Albéniz was intentionally writing nationalistic music, he must have sought to portray distinct regional flavors in such a way that a Spaniard would be able to hear his country in each piece, no matter which Spanish region or style was implied. With that said, is contrast even a primary goal of nationalistic music? Certainly, composers don’t desire the similarity of their works to bore an audience, but a certain level of similarity is necessary to make the works cohesive. When I hear a Lied, I recognize the genre right away; if the same is true for a Spanish piano piece, then we can consider it a success on Albeniz’ part.

Although I think Ben has a point in suggesting that Suite Española doesn’t stand out as much as most works in the canon, I would like to offer another explanation for the suite’s exclusion from the canon. My research suggests that Albéniz’ four-book composition, Iberia, throws a shadow on the Suite Española. Much like the suite, Iberia’s collection of twelve impressions attempts to capture the essence of the nation in sounds and rhythms. However, Iberia was written nearly a decade after the suite, and Albéniz’ compositional style had significantly matured. When he was writing Iberia, Albéniz was reaching the end of his career and dedicated most of his energies to music composition; Iberia, which took three years to compose, is what Grove Music Online calls a masterpiece (“Albéniz, Isaac”). Suite Española, in contrast, was a set of pieces written in large quantity over a short period of time so that Albéniz could play his own pieces in concert. Thus, it seems Iberia was a much more important work to Albéniz himself, and one he was more likely to see as representative of his best compositional ability. When a work such as Iberia attempts to accomplish much the same purpose as Suite Española and demonstrates the composer’s more mature style, it makes sense that the earlier piece gets much less recognition.

Finding out about Iberia made me wonder about another comment that Ben made – was Felipe Pedrell the most notable influence on the compositions of Albéniz? I was unsure at first about this idea because I read on Grove Music Online that Joaquín Malats heavily influenced the final two books of Iberia, and Iberia seems to have been Albéniz’ most notable musical composition. As I continued researching and thinking about Pedrell’s influence, I realized that Iberia might owe much of its existence to Pedrell. If Pedrell did indeed turn Albéniz toward nationalistic music, then his teaching was a necessary motivation for both Suite Española and Iberia.

Like Ben’s, my overall experience with Albéniz’ Suite Española was enjoyable – perhaps it was even more enjoyable for me, because the suite reminded me of the piano music I fell asleep to as a young child. The dancing melodies and limited use of block chords lull me into a state of relaxation normally – in fact, sleepiness has been a significant obstacle to the completion of this listening journal response. In my opinion, the Suite Española does not merit inclusion in the canon, but this in no way lessons the aesthetic value of the pieces. I would recommend them to others as a pleasing and relaxing listening experience. It bears mentioning that some works included in the canon are not relaxing experiences (and weren’t intended to be).