(Isaac Albeniz)
This suite was written by Isaac Albeniz in honour of the Queen of Spain in 1887 and was made up of piano works that had been composed predominantly in 1886.
These works were written in miniature form to illustrate the music of different areas of Spain and the original three titles used in the collection were Granada, Sevilla, Cuba and Cataluna. After Albeniz’s death the complete collection of the eight pieces that had been originally written for Suite Espanola were published in 1911.
The works and their respective dance/musical styles comprise:
Granada (Serenata)*
Cataluna (Curranda)
Sevilla (Sevillanas)*
Cadiz (Saeta)
Asturias/Leyenda (Flamenco)*
Castilla (Seguidillas)
Aragon (Fantasia in the style of a jota)
Cuba (Caprice)
(For information on the individual works, please see their respective entries. Those that have extra entries will be asterisked on the list of pieces.)
Manuel Barrueco recordings
EMI 66574 (CD: Manuel Barrueco Plays Albeniz & Turina)
Guitar – Manual Barrueco
Julian Bream recordings
Suite Espanola
RCA 88697-04606-2 (CD: Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar)
Guitar – Julian Bream
Pierre Huybregts recordings
Centaur CRC 2231 (CD: Albeniz: Works for Piano)
Piano – Pierre Huybregts
Ruth Laredo Recordings
MCA 6265 (CD: Ruth Laredo plays Albeniz and De Falla)
Piano – Ruth Laredo
New Philharmonia Recordings
London 417 786 – 2 (CD: Albeniz: Suite Espanola; Falla: El Amor Brujo)
Conductor – Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
(This version has “Cuba” replaced by a piece entitled ” Cordoba”)
Sources: