Chants d’Espagne op. 232

Catalan piano virtuoso and composer Isaac Albéniz received his musical training under Liszt, Vincent d’Indy and Paul Dukas, among others. Today’s pianists mostly dedicate themselves to Albéniz’s extensive piano cycle “Iberia”, which he wrote towards the end of his life. The more attractive five-movement suite “Chants d’Espagne” op. 232, with movement titles such as “Sous le Palmier” [Under the palm tree] or “Córdoba”, was written in the 1890s. All the attributes of Albéniz the piano composer are present here: the form of the miniature-like character pieces, a richly coloured piano texture and the folksong sound with a Spanish flavour. The trade press has written about our Urtext edition with its detailed preface: “Henle’s editor, Ullrich Scheideler, works very precisely and clearly with regard to discrepancies and errors that evolved in previous generations. Rolf Koenen’s fingerings are balanced and intelligent.”

• Chants d’Espagne op. 232

• Prélude

• Orientale

• Sous le Palmier

• Córdoba

• Seguidillas