
Walter Aaron Clark's detailed and accurate account (the first in English) of one of the most intriguing figures of the Romantic period is now available in paperback. Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), a renowned concert pianist, created a national style of Spanish piano music and also fostered the growth in Spain of the concerto, orchestral music, and opera. His career was to become the stuff of legend: a touring child prodigy who supposedly stowed away on a steamer to the New World, he later studied with Liszt, and eventually became ensnared in a 'Faustian pact' with the wealthy English librettist Frances Burdett Money-Coutts. Based on a wealth of new and previously overlooked documentary evidence, this biography debunks the mythology surrounding Albéniz's career--much of it spun by the composer himself--and reveals a complex individual who was able to capture the mystery of Spain in his music yet who in reality felt estranged from his homeland.
This biography investigates the life and artistic contributions of Isaac Albéniz, aiming to separate the composer's self-constructed mythology from the historical reality of his career. Walter Aaron Clark, a musicologist specializing in Spanish music, utilizes extensive primary source documentation and previously overlooked archival materials to reconstruct the life of this influential Romantic figure. The work argues that Albéniz's complex relationship with his Spanish identity and his professional associations shaped his output more significantly than the legends he propagated during his lifetime.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts recognize this work as the definitive English-language biography of Albéniz, praised for its rigorous archival research and objective tone. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a comprehensive and scholarly examination of the composer's life.
Page Count:
360
Publication Date:
1999-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0192668765
ISBN-13:
9780192668769
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