1/6 Enfoque: Isaac Albéniz Isaac Albéniz is best known for his works for the piano, most notably, Iberia. But he also wrote songs, chamber works, and a number of zarzuelas and operas, and dreamed of creating a Spanish national opera. Isaac Albéniz was one of the most outstanding personalities in Spain's musical history. On this edition of The Spanish Hour, we explore the life and work of Isaac Albéniz and the cultural environment that allowed him to flourish, via selections from Pepita Jiménez, Iberia, Cantos de España, as well as the rarely heard Piano Sonata No. 5.
1/13 Foreign Impressions of Spain Spain in the imagination of Ravel, Debussy, Chabrier, and Franz Liszt, just a few of the many composers whose imaginations were sparked by the customs and music of the Iberian Peninsula. This week, we hear their impressions of Spain.
1/20 Does This Spanish Music Sound “Spanish?” While Spanish classical music owes much to the folkloric characteristics of Spanish musical traditions, there are many works inspired by at European modernism. This week on The Spanish Hour, we take a walk through Spanish orchestral works of the 20th-century, from a 1928 recording of Albéniz' s El Puerto from Iberia to the guitar concierto Mare nostrum by Catalan Salvador Brotons to the Concerto for Orchestra by Aragonese innovator Antón García Abril, who died in March 2021 following complications from Covid-19.
1/27 Gems from Uruguay, Panamá, and Spain Enjoy twentieth-century chamber music for winds and small orchestra. There’s a suite for six – count-em six -- tubas by Uruguay’s Enrique Crespo, plus miniatures for small orchestra from Panama’s Roque Cordero. Federico Moreno Torroba’s homage to the dance “seguidilla” rounds out this week’s program.
