Suite Espanola, no. 1 and no.2

When I think of Spain, an image of a dark-haired flamenco dancer in a colorful dress comes to mind. The strength in her movements and the music’s rhythm evokes a passion that is at the heart of Spanish music. I find that same passion in Isaac Albéniz’s Suite española, no. 1 and no. 2 for piano. With a heart for his country, Albéniz contributed to the nationalistic movement using sounds familiar to his heritage. In his Suites españolas he gave unique distinction to each section by utilizing various rhythms and melodies typical of Spanish music of the time.

Albéniz was a child prodigy who made his public debut at age four, initiating a childhood of recital touring throughout Europe and the Spanish Americas (Clark). Though Albéniz spent much of his time traveling, he always found his way back home to Spain, whether physically or through his music. In both of the Suites españolas, Albéniz pays tribute to nine cities in Spain by naming each movement according to the town or community it reflects. For example, one movement is named for the old town of Cadiz, where flamenco began. Furthermore, Albéniz gives a subtitle to each movement in the first suite, explaining what mood it is to convey. “Cadiz” is therefore given the subtitle “Saeda,” a flamenco-style song played for religious services. As this piece is in triple meter, it naturally feels like a dance. Albéniz emphasizes the second beat by using a turn or a trill, which suggests castanets, a wooden instrument used in Spanish music for percussive ornamentation. “Granada” is given the subtitle “Serenata,” meaning serenade, and in it Albéniz creates a guitar-like sound using a rolled chord in the right hand. This strumming chord is played repetitively on top of a lyrical melody in the left hand to imply a dreamlike serenade. Using these techniques, Albéniz contributed to the ever-growing movement toward nationalism. In a period when Italy and France defined what music should be, many composers strayed from the norm and sought to make their compositions representative of their homeland. For example, Chopin incorporated Polish melodies and dances into his polonaises and mazurkas and Rimsky-Korsakov used Russian folk melodies to give his music distinction. Albéniz also found ways to help listeners identify his work as nationalistic.

Albéniz’s place in the late Romantic period is fitting as his use of modern harmonies and chromaticism, especially in the piece “Cuba,” connect Classical style with new Romantic ideas. As a first time listener to Albéniz’s work, I naturally assumed that all of the music was original and as complete works, the Suites españolas are indeed his own. However, an article from Notes reveals that a couple of movements in Suite española no. 1 are taken directly from an earlier work, Chants d’Espagne, also written by Albéniz (Clark). Though this seems scandalous, many great composers have been caught doing the same thing in order to meet the demands of their patrons. If one were to glimpse at Bach’s outpouring of music, he would likely find a melody or chorale tune used more than once. While we do not look down on Bach for such acts, perhaps this is a reason for the Suites españolas exclusion from the canon we know today.

While the Suites españolas are not a regular part of the canon, Albéniz’s work did not go unnoticed by his contemporaries. Not only did Debussy find greatness in this Spanish composer, he encouraged others to look to Albéniz’s work so that they could learn from him as well. When discussing nationalism, Debussy remarked, “Without using actual popular tunes he is the kind of person who has them in his blood. They have become so natural a part of his music that one barely distinguishes a demarcation line” (Lesure and Howat). It is clear that Albéniz was recognized during his life, however he seems to go unheard today. While I am unsure of the reason for this, I would gladly place Albéniz Suites españolas in the canon among the works of Chopin, Bach, and Debussy.

Response to Bray's The Indian Princess

After reading various blogs by my fellow classmates, I was immediately intrigued by Victoria’s interpretation of John Bray’s The Indian Princess. Not far into her blog she describes early American opera as “hokey.” Being an opera student myself, I decided to look further into this perception to see whether or not I agreed with it.

Upon listening to the same work, I quickly found myself bouncing to the tunes and even laughing a little at the lyrics. While some of the lyrics are silly or light-hearted at times, I would not use the word “hokey” to describe it. Perhaps the art of opera was a new venture for Bray, however I can easily see links to both European opera of Bray’s time and even to modern day musical theater. I do agree that the orchestra is second to the singers and is mainly there to offer support. However, this is not unusual of opera. The goal is to get the plot and lyrics across clearly. From Victoria’s perspective, playing in the pit would not be extremely entertaining. On the other hand, there are some really beautiful moments in the vocal score that are fun to listen to and I imagine would be fun to sing and act out as well.

Another feeling Victoria expresses is her disappointment in the absence of Native American culture and music within the piece. This I agree with, however only once in the entire work does a Native American actually sing, in this case Pocahontas. I admit that I was expecting at least a hint of tribal sound in her voice or in the accompaniment and it was not there. She sounds like she could have stepped off the boat with all of the Englishmen. She does have a “Snow White” quality to her voice, in which I can imagine her singing to the birds and the flowers much like I imagine an Indian princess doing. However, the lack of true Native American influence is disappointing. Nevertheless, the story that is conveyed through the music (disregarding the dialogue that is not included on the recording) is generally from the point of view of the English men and women rather than from the perspective of the Native Americans. I believe this helps us to understand the European influence on the music. In the song “Och! Hubbaboo!Gramachree!Hone,” Larry, a young man missing his love back home, sings with a strong Irish accent while the orchestra imitates bagpipes in a type of folk ballad. If we understand that this work is centered on the visitors to the New World rather than on the natives, it makes more sense that the music is European. That is what those characters would know and Bray conveys that well.

Another point that Victoria mentions is a baroque quality to the music. The music is rather light and simple, but I would say that this fits in well with the Classical period. Not only were composers trying to simplify music in order to bring out the melodies, composers of opera and song needed a way to better convey the text, following Gluck’s opera reform. While Bray does not completely eliminate ornamentation, he does make it minimal.

I agree that The Indian Princess is not an extremely influential work today nor should it be considered a part of the canon. However, I think Bray deserves some credit as his work was widely performed during his lifetime throughout America and even in London. He obviously created something worth looking at and he knew how to reach his audience. I can easily imagine this story translating into a modern day musical and perhaps one day a composer will take that chance.