Isaac Albéniz: Portrait of a Romantic

by Walter Aaron Clark

Walter Aaron Clark here presents, for the first time in English, a detailed and accurate account of one of the most intriguing figures in the Romantic period. Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909), a renowned concert pianist, created a national style of Spanish piano music and also fostered the growth of the concerto, orchestral music, and opera in Spain. As a touring child prodigy who supposedly stowed away on a steamer to the New World, later studied with Liszt, and eventually got ensnared in a "Faustian pact" with the wealthy English librettist, Frances Burdett Money-Coutts, Albeniz has become somewhat of a legend. Based on a wealth of new and previously overlooked documentary evidence, this biography debunks the mythology surrounding his career, much of it spun by the composer himself.

Genres: Music, Biography

340 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[David Dunlap · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book met my goal in reading it: i.e., to learn more about Spanish pianist/composer Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909). He sounds to have been an interesting person, a bundle of contradictions (as almost all of us are). The author sums him up neatly in this sentence: "Variety within logic was his motto, but variety at the expense of logic was often his way of life." Despite health problems throughout most of his life, Albéniz over-indulged himself in cigars, liquor, food. Despite being Catalan to the core, he lived most of his life abroad (in England and, mostly, Paris). Despite his desire to make a name for himself by writing operas, he had little -- if any -- success with the ones he completed. Despite being devoted to his family, he lived apart from them at frequent intervals. -- The author demonstrates admirable command of primary sources (even providing the original language from letters, etc., in the footnotes) and the text is peppered with musical examples (perhaps too many for the general reader, accompanying them with rather technical discussion). All that said, the text is rather dry. I would have liked more information on Albéniz's family (he mentions the composer's son as being a 'prodigal' and alludes to a difficult relationship, but there are no details) -- why (to give another example) did he spend so much time away from wife Rosina, yet would write her the equivalent of a 'wish you were here' letter? One helpful thing author Clark does is to probe the relationship between composer Albéniz and his wealthy English patron, banking heir Francis Money-Coutts; far from being the inhibiting 'Faustian pact with the devil' as it is often depicted, it was a relationship that developed into deep friendship and, on Coutts's part, steady, faithful financial support to Albéniz and his family that continued after the composer's death. -- In sum, a fairly interesting book, but not a vital one.