Journal: Composer Affected by Impressionist Movement (IB Music)

Biography:

• Who: 
• Isaac Albeniz
• Child prodigy (on piano)
• When: 
• Lived from 29 May 1860 until 18 May 1909.
• Traveled around the world with his father, performing in the US, England, and Germany at the age of 15.
• Started composing in late 1870s.
• Where:
• Born in Camprodon, Gerona, Spain. 
• Traveled through Europe performing piano works of other composers and then eventually conducting the performances of his own works.
• Lived in London and Paris during the 1890s.
• What:
• Largely composed piano works, the last (and largest) of which was the Iberia Suite, written in 1908, composed of 12 "piano impressions." 
• His piano works are more commonly heard as classical guitar arrangements.
• He also composed operas, such as Henry Clifford, and orchestral works
• Style:
• At first, piano works followed traditions set by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt; mainly "salon music"
• Middle period works contain a heavy Spanish influence
• Delicate, intricate melodies
• Abrupt dynamic changes
• Spanish dance rhythms
• Use of cante jondo (associated with flamenco)
• Exotic scales like the whole tone scale, and modes like Phrygian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian
• Guitar idioms in piano writing
• Late works marked by further compositional exploration.

Listening Journal: Almeria for piano from the Iberia Suite (0:00-2:56)

• Instrumentation:
• Solo piano
• Modern style keyboard
• Right hand has much of the melody, although the parts intertwine and create the melody together
• Meter/Tempo/Rhythm:
• Meter switches between 6/8 and 3/4 time
• Marked allegretto moderato
• Rhythms are simple, consisting primarily of quarter and eighth notes 
• Most dotted rhythms land on major beats, but some syncopation present from 1:26-1:41). Also in this section, accents fall on off beats, making for an odd, sort of "off" feel to the section
• Evidence of hemiola (for example at 1:58)
• Melody:
• Held largely by the right hand
• Transfers back and forth between the hands (switches from right to left at 1:26 and then back to right at 1:50 and then back to left at 1:58, etc.)
• Seems fairly conjunct, moves primarily stepwise; makes some jumps but not consistently
• Often, parts of the melody can be found in both the right and left hand; the closeness of the two parts enables this effect where it sounds as if one hand is playing melody and the other harmony (like in Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess)
• Tonality:
• Although the key signature has one sharp, meaning that the piece is in G major or E minor, it is often impossible to tell what key the piece is in due to the overwhelming use of accidentals and chromaticism
• These tactics create uneasy and unclear harmonies, which Albeniz resolves in strange ways or does not resolve at all (in impressionist fashion)
• Texture:
• Largely homophonic
• Syncopated or emphasized harmony sometimes distorts the melody, making it more dense and polyphonic
• Structure:
• 0:00-0:15 = phrase one
• 0:16-0:35 = phrase two (composed of descending variations of the melody)
• 0:36-0:59 = phrase three (loud dynamically, highest part, climax)
• 1:00-1:13 = phrase four (gradually relaxing in intensity and dynamic, transitional)
• 1:14-1:26 = phrase five (return of phrase one!)
• 1:27-1:51 = phrase six (entirely new section, melody in bass line, syncopations and accents on offbeats)
• 1:52-2:12 = phrase seven (variation of phrase one again; melodic line split between right and left hand)
• 2:13-2:25 = phrase eight (modulation of original melody, transitional)
• 2:26-2:56 = phrase nine (entirely new theme, right hand playing block chords, left hand playing eighth note "melody"; introduces calmer second half of piece)