The late 19th and early 20th centuries have been called the golden age
of Spanish piano music -- a rebirth of fervent nationalism that ushered
in a true keyboard renaissance. Brought to national awareness by the
four most important composers of their generation -- Isaac Albéniz,
Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla, and Joaquin Turina -- this new wave
of music explored everything Spanish: the magnetic rhythms of Spanish
dance, the dark lyricism of Spanish song, the Iberian countryside, the
landscape, and the sights and sounds of everyday life.
Albéniz sketched picturesque vistas of Spanish scenes and landscapes in
works called Malagueña, Asturias, and Córdoba. In Goyescas, Granados
transformed Francisco Goya's artwork into a world of voluptuous sound,
confessing that I fell in love with Goya's palette . . . with his lady
maja. Falla painted the Spanish landscape in Aragonesa and Andaluza
and brought new life to Spanish dance theater with his ballet El amor
brujo -- featuring the world-famous Ritual fire dance -- and with the
brilliant farrucas, fandangos, and seguidillas of his ballet El
sombrero de tres picos. And Turina added new luster to Spanish
nationalism with music steeped in the cante hondo (deep song) of his
native Andalusia.
Dover's outstanding new collection brings together 24 works by these
Spanish masters, introduced by Antonio Soler's hypnotic: Fandango,
considered one of the most celebrated keyboard works of the 18th
century. The technical range of the pieces in this exceptional volume
makes this collection of special interest to a broad range of pianists,
intermediate to advanced.
