ALBENIZ Asturias | Nicolas BALDEYROU

Dear friends, I hope you are well! We’re lucky that our musical life is slowly coming back to normal in Europe and these last weeks have been really busy, that’s why I haven’t been posting for a while! But today I’m really happy to release this new video, about a too rarely heard composer : Isaac Albéniz 🇪🇸🔥 As one of the leading composers of his era, Albéniz's influences on both contemporary composers and on the future of Spanish music are profound. As a result of his extended stay in France and the friendship he formed with numerous composers there, his composition technique and harmonic language has influenced aspiring younger composers such as Debussy and Ravel. His activities as conductor, performer and composer significantly raised the profile of Spanish music abroad and encouraged Spanish music and musicians in his own country. He is today well known for his piano works based on Spanish folk music idioms like Asturias, today’s piece! Despite this name, the piece is pure Andalusian flamenco. In the main theme the piano mimics the guitar technique and the theme itself suggests the rhythm of the bulería, a fast flamenco form. The piece sounds as though it is written in the Phrygian mode which is typical of bulerías. The second section is reminiscent of a copla, a sung verse following a specific form. The music alters between a solo and accompaniment that is typical of flamenco. The short middle section of the piece is written in the style of a malagueña, another flamenco style piece. The malagueña borrows two motives from the previous copla and builds on them. The piece returns to its first theme until a slow choral passage ends the piece. That’s why this video is situated in one of the pearls of Andalusia, Sevilla, where I had the joy to play last week with @bsmsevilla ! Will you recognize all the instruments I’m playing ? 3 legends in Mopani, grenadilla and boxwood, a Tosca bass, a unique old buffet contrabass prototype, a Turkish Keylan clarinet in G kindly lent by @keylanmuzik in Istanbul 🙏🏼🔥 and of course horns and percussions. Hope you’ll like it and don’t hesitate to give me ideas! Take care and stay safe! ❤️