Event

Iberia is a suite for piano composed between 1905 and 1909 by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. It is composed of four books of three pieces each; a complete performance lasts about an hour and a half.

PROGRAM:

ISSAC ALBÉNIZ: Suite Iberia
SERGEI RACHMANINOV: Polka WR

It is Albéniz’s best-known work and considered his masterpiece. It was highly praised by Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen, who said: «Iberia is the wonder for the piano; it is perhaps on the highest place among the more brilliant pieces for the king of instruments». Stylistically, this suite falls squarely in the school of Impressionism, especially in its musical evocations of Spain. Technically, Iberia is one of the most difficult pieces in the repertoire, requiring immense strength from its interpreters and flexible hands.

Evocación, El puerto and Fête-dieu à Seville (Book 1)
Rondeña, Almería and Triana (Book 2)
El Albaicín, El Polo and Lavapiés (Book 3)
Málaga, Jerez and Eritaña (Book 4)

Vision of Spain presented: The topic of the work is Spain. (He could not call it España, since two pieces had recently appeared with that title.) Yet the vision of Spain it presents is primarily Andalusian. Non-Spaniards may not realize how unusual this is, how this is really «taking a position» with regard to the ongoing debate within Spain over just what Spain is. Cádiz (“El puerto”), Granada (“El Albaicin”), Ronda, Málaga, Jerez, Almería, are all Andalusian, and three of the twelve pieces are dedicated to Seville, that most musical of Spanish cities, where more operas have been set than in any other city : Fête-Dieu à Seville, Triana, and Eritaña. The only appearance of Madrid is the working-class Lavapiés neighborhood.

Rachmaninoff wrote the arrangement on 24 March 1911, the day after the premiere of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in Saint Petersburg. He dedicated it to Leopold Godowsky. It was published the same year, as part of an album of Russian pieces called Nouvelle Collection de Musique; the other composers represented in the album were Alexander Scriabin, Nikolai Medtner, Sergei Taneyev, Georgy Catoire and Alexander Goedicke.

The tune was a favourite of Rachmaninoff’s father, Vassily (the «W.R.» in the title refers to his father’s initials in the German transliteration, Wassily Rachmaninoff), but it is not known whether Rachmaninoff knew its true author to be Franz Behr, or whether he believed that the melody was concocted by his father. Behr was given no mention in the published edition of Polka de W.R., and it was universally believed to be an original work of Rachmaninoff’s until the late 20th century, when the true author of the melody was identified. The piece is now generally listed as being by «Behr/Rachmaninoff», or «Behr, arr. Rachmaninoff».

Its first known public performance was on 6 May 1922, by Rachmaninoff himself, at the Queen’s Hall, London. He recorded it four times, without revision, and it has been recorded more than sixty more times. It was a favourite encore of pianists such as Vladimir Horowitz and Shura Cherkassky.