CHAPTER 2. HIS FORTEPIANO WORKS

THE CONTEXT OF THE FORTEPIANO IN 19^TH CENTURY SPAIN

During the first half of the 19th century, Spain went through strong socio-political and economic instabilities. It suffered the Independence War (1808-1814) and the political measures taken by the government of Fernando VII (1808, 1814-1833) that limited the cultural growth. In addition, Spanish society lived through two different regencies (María Cristina de Borbón, 1833-1840, and, General Espartero, 1841-43), had to adjust to the loss of part of its colonial empire, and found themselves ideologically divided. However, the social agitation and political turbulence that occurred during this time did not stop the growing interest of the amateur public to access the "fashionable" instrument in Spain as in the rest of Europe: the piano.

The Regencies of Maria Cristina (1833-1840) and General Espartero (1840-1843) were a significant period for the establishment of many musical foundations, associations, Philharmonic societies, and musical academies, i.e. societies related to art in general and specifically music. Among them were the Ateneo Científico y Literio [Scientific and Literary Ateneo, 1835], the Museo Lírico [Lyrical Museum, 1837], the Liceo Artístico y Literio [mentioned before, also 1837], the Instituto Español [Spanish Institute] and the Academia Filarmónica Matritense, also mentioned before. This situation influenced piano literature, cultivating genres associated with ballroom music such as- waltzes, dances, nocturnes, and mazurkas.- Instrumental and vocal venues were organized in palaces, private houses, other halls belonging to the Conservatory, musical societies, and publishing houses.

At the Palace, concerts were held since the 1840s. There were different kinds of venues, those were great musicians and orchestras would play, or small soirées with members of the Royal Family playing at times as soloists or accompanists. Personalities that regularly attended these venues were Juan María Guelbenzu and, of course, the teachers Francisco Valldemosa and Pedro Albéniz. On these occasions, works by Albéniz, among others, were premiered, most of them dedicated to the Queen or her sister because of special reasons (birth, death, birthday).

The Romanticism in Spain portrayed the consolidation of the pianoforte as the main instrument in life and musical creation. It belonged to every musical space, public or private: theatres, aristocratic or bourgeois halls, cafés, or any kind of soirée celebrated in houses. The piano took part in most of the contexts found in a professional musician´s life: daily practice, concert activity in all levels, or help for the composer´s labour.

The peak of the instrument was also driven by its versatility. In addition to its solo and chamber music repertoire, it has the ability to also offer reductions of orchestral and opera works. By 1820, its inevitable expansion reached all areas, and it can be said that the transition from the harpsichord to the piano was completed. Within its own evolution, the pianoforte captures the characteristics of the Industrial Revolution. The big manufactures registered innovations that increased the possibilities and gave the instrument a shape that, by the end of the century, was not very far from the final one. During this process, the range extension and the power were increased, the mechanism was considerably improved, and the sound became more equal and tuned.

From the last quarter of the 18^th-century, what we find in Spain are mostly pianos imported from builders such as John Broadwood^[1] or Muzio Clementi^[2] in England or English copies with English mechanism (simple^[3] or double^[4]) made in Spain.  In the Royal house, they created vacancies for piano builders^[5] as an example of the support for the emerging national piano industry. During the first three decades of the century, more than fifteen workshops were established in Madrid, considered as the epicenter of this development, but there were also important builders in Barcelona, Valencia, and Sevilla. Among the most famous builders of the time, we can find Francisco Flórez,^[6] Francisco Fernández, ^[7]Juan Hosseschrueders^[8] and José Larrú.^[9]

It is in the Spanish version of Clementi´s treatise, where we can find a part called “Particularities of the instruments made by Clementi&Co”.^[10] From this text we can learn the several types of pianos coexisted. Firstly, the grand-piano, probably less popular but used for public concerts and mostly belonging to the Elite Society. Secondly, square pianos, whose appearance were similar to the Clavichord, and which had not only a practical use but also a decorative purpose and belonged to the High bourgeoisie. Finally, the vertical piano, which coexisted with the upright one but former remained due to basic reasons: practicality, longevity and price. In that way, the vertical piano satisfied the needs of the time.

Until the 1830s, the most common was the square piano. There were some that had English simple mechanism but most of them had the English double mechanism, considered safer, more solid, and exact in the repeating function. However, it was of course, heavier. The first pianos had five and a half octaves register but the ones that we have more documentation of are six-octaves or six-and-a-half with vertical dampers (also horizontal sometimes), two strings, and two pedals. However there are also a few exceptions on pedals: there are examples with five or six pedals, which usually are bassoon (consisting in a tube parchment on the strings), right pedal, una corda, moderator (built with a felt strip between the hammers and the strings), drum, triangle, and bells.

During the 1830s, Spanish manufactures grew and the use of the English mechanism decreased in favor of the French one^[11]. Pianos became not only wider in range but also some updates were made: the hammers and the dumpers were covered with felt and not leather anymore, a double lid made with wood was included to cover the soundboard, number of pedals was standardized to two (right pedal and una corda), and also the tone was more homogeneous. With the arrival of famous pianists on tours such as Liszt, Gottschalk, and Thalberg, French pianos were imported and Queen Isabel II had, at least, an Erard and a Pleyel in the Palace^[12]. During 1845 and 1850, Vicente Ferrer Aguirre and  José Larrú were already building pianos imitating the French action.

HIS WORKS WITHIN THE 19^TH CENTURY MUSICAL CONTEXT

The pianoforte describes Pedro Albéniz´s musical life from beginning to end. His activity as a composer is very prolific. He wrote mostly for the piano. Excepting a few religious works, some organ music composed because of his duties as organist in San Sebastián, and the lieder op. 34, most of his works are for two or four hands. The great majority of them came up as a tool for his teaching activity at the Conservatory but, above all, at the Royal Palace. He felt that composing for students was a duty for any teacher.

He composed most of his works between 1830 and 1854, being especially fruitful during the 1840s. The reason for this is probably the appointment as the teacher of Isabel II (first princess then Queen) and her sister Mª Luisa Fernanda. In fact, most of the works are dedicated either to Isabel II or to her sister Mª Luisa Fernanda. However, the quality of these works in terms of originality or creativity is more questionable. There is a development in the style according to the previous Spanish composers in terms of writing and stylistic features, also linked to the Industrial Revolution. A difference can be observed between his first works and the latest ones (more demanding writing also related with the development of the pianos) but it cannot be said that his language belongs to a consolidated romantic style, especially not in harmonic terms (rather conservative, even quite simple). This may be because of his enormously busy life- he was, for decades, the only piano teacher at the Conservatory- due to the  difficult economic and social situation in Spain, and  held his post at the Royal Palace (Royal Chapel and teacher of the Royal House). Or maybe it was never his will.

In order to define his style, it is necessary to analyze what were his musical influences and the elements of his pianism in relation to his own catalog and his musical context. When taking a look into it, the first striking thing is the remarkable contrast between his piano style and that of his father, Mateo Albéniz (1755-1831). The professional admiration that the son felt towards his father is obvious and documented,^[13] but there are no elements in common between their piano styles. This is probably the result of the time they lived: Mateo Albéniz´s Keyboard Sonata uses similar pianistic writing and structure to the great keyboard masters of the Spanish 18th century, Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) and Antonio Soler (1729-1783). In fact, although we know the existence of pianos bought to Florencia at Maria de Braganza´s Court^[14], we have no certainty if the sonata was meant to be played in the harpsichord, the fortepiano, or even both.

After his first years as an organist, Pedro´s experience in Paris was clearly a turning point in his creative search. He built his own language as he wrote his method, researching and taking what he observed from his surroundings. His contribution to the European musical society outside Spain is probably not remarkable. He assimilated the tendencies and piano writing from the biggest names of 19^th-century Paris but he did not develop a very personal style. However, his contribution within the Spanish context it is transcendental both because of its quantity and innovation.

His pianism evolves from the contradanzas (first piano work known) to the big fantasies for two hands, and derives from, (in order of increasing importance), Spanish folklore, Italian opera, and the pianistic writing and resources used in 19th-century Paris, and is influenced by two capital figures: Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849) and Henri Herz (1803-1888).

His music has two main recipients: his students and the amateur public. Probably, his pedagogical labor occupied most of his time and that is precisely one of the reasons why several of his works seem to be for educational context, both within the Conservatory and later in the Palace.

When one observes his catalog, it is clear that most of his compositions are two or four-handed works of medium difficulty, written to be performed mostly by amateur students. In fact, he wrote in a considerable variety of genres: caprice, variation, waltz, rondino (solo, four-handed, with quartet or quintet), nocturne, and, above all, fantasies for two and four hands. He cultivated most of the genres in fashion at the moment, from ballroom music (gallop, nocturne, waltz) to the most demanded fantasies and variations (especially popular the ones based on opera arias). He translated all his learning in Paris to the Spanish reality, developing genres seldom used until those years –such as the variations or the fantasies- and updating the “older” ones with his own language, influenced by personalities such as Henri Herz and Friedrick Kalkbrenner.

No doubt that the variations, rondos, and fantasies on opera or popular themes were his most famous pieces. They were essentially pieces with a favorable market release. It served the taste of the aristocratic and bourgeoisie circles close to him, especially from 1841, when he was appointed a teacher of the Royal House.

From the waltzes and nocturnes to the repertoire for four hands, they are works that, written within the archetypes of each of the genres, meet the requirements of pedagogical repertoire: they work certain pianistic elements, adapt to the level of the student and are easy to listen to. Examples of this kind of repertoire are: some of the waltzes, the nocturne “La Isla de la Cascada de Aranjuez”, the Danzas características españolas for four hands, the fantasies for four hands, the melodic studies, and some short pieces gathered in his method (like the Fantasía sobre motivos from La Violeta). As proof of this pedagogical trait, most of his four-handed pieces present the secondo part as the most difficult, and it is, in fact, documented,^[15] that this part was played by him.

On the other hand, there are a considerable number of works that require a mastery of the most demanding and refined mechanism. They are works that seem to be written for pianists in a more advanced stage of their training or for professional pianists. Examples of this repertoire are the fantasies and variations for two hands and the Rondó Brillante a la Tirana sobre los temas del Trípili y la Cachucha, op. 22.

WORKS INSPIRED BY SPANISH FOLKLORE

It seems plausible that Pedro Albéniz's first contact with Spanish folklore in piano music was through the keyboard authors of the 18^th century mentioned before (including, of course, his father), who used elements of the Spanish-American folklore for the elaboration of their sonatas.

Part of Pedro Albéniz´s artistic activity also finds its inspiration in the Spanish folklore, especially appreciable in his Danzas características españolas and the Rondó Brillante a la Tirana sobre los temas del Trípili y la Cachucha, op. 22. Some of the elements he takes from the popular Spanish culture were used before but they are treated in a completely different way. Examples of this are the seguidilla or the fandango, already employed by the Escuela bolera^[16] from the 18^th century.  Other elements that he uses have no background in Spanish piano literature. An example is, the use of zortzico, belonging to the Basque folklore, which Albéniz felt very close to after living thirty-five years in the Basque Country. It was precisely his connection with this region that impelled him to elaborate, together with Juan Inzenga, a popular Basque songbook.

Pedro Albéniz´s Contradanzas bailadas^[17] were his first documented fortepiano work. They were written, among other compositions, for the Royal reception in San Sebastián (1833). Pedro Albéniz was in charge of the musical events for the occasion. The Contradanza, also called contradanza criolla, danza, danza criolla, or, later, habanera, is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the French contredanse, a very popular dance during the 18th century and adopted at the French court. It was usually performed by an orchestra of two violins, two clarinets, a contrabass, a cornet, a trombone, an ophicleide, a paila, and a guiro. It is thought that this Cuban influence arrived in Spain through the sailors, becoming especially linked to the habanera and being the source of inspiration for a wide amount of composers.

The actress Paquito Rico singing La Tirana del Trípili in the film La Tirana (2010).

Contradanzas bailadas by Pedro Albéniz. Performer: Julián Turiel. June 2018.

Part of the 1st-year recital program. AS Zaal, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag.

BALLROOM MUSIC

A new listener appears in the musical scene: the bourgeois. The musical interest of this social stratum is reflected in ballroom music: easy and refined music to listen to. As amateur musicians, they liked the music to play at home. New musical spaces appear as a result of the increasing artistic demand: halls, academies, philharmonic societies, concerts. Examples of this will be the Ateneo and the Liceo. The Ateneo (Madrid, 1835) was a place for cultural and musical presentations and discussions while The Liceo Artístico y Literario (1840) was an institution where literature received a great impulse, traditionally more than music. There were public lectures, lessons, art presentations (especially painters and sculptors) and musical celebrations and concerts. Figures as Liszt, Thalberg or Gottschalk performed there.

The ballroom music was the most performed in these institutions. During the 30s, the waltz [also written as vals or wals] and the rigodones, were the predominant genres ahead of the mazurka and the gallop, based in opera and dance. The perfect combination between both fashions is the waltzes and rigodones´ sets based on the opera themes. In addition, piano arrangements for dances played by orchestras in theaters and halls are very common. The hits of the carnival season are published each year in collections entitled Carnival Nights, Carnival Evenings or Carnival Day.

The Center-European dances such as waltzes, polonaises, mazurkas, gallops are present in halls all over the capital after Spanish opening to foreign influences. This is also reflected in critics, press and musical edition.

Waltz

The waltz is the most cultivated dance by Albéniz. According to their quality, three of them stand out, called: El clásico [The classical], El romántico [the romantic] and the Anfión Matritense^[23], all of them typical concert waltzes. They were also, together with the Huit waltzes pour le piano-forte, the only ones published. The rest of them, around fifteen more, are layed up in one of the Queen´s music albums.^[24]

All the waltzes have a structure in several sections (In the case of some of the concert waltzes, preceded by an introduction and followed by a coda). The rest of them have a more simplified ABA structure plus coda where each section modulates to close tones. The concert waltzes do have a virtuosic intention more visible in the codas although without reaching the level of the variations and fantasies for two hands. They present writing which takes advantage of the whole extension of the keyboard and employs the singing in octaves as a tool to vary a theme or motif. This results in writing full of jumps and brief and long octaves passages in considerably fast tempos. On the other hand, the lower register also presents its difficulties. The left hand is usually written in two in two differentiated registers (bass and chord), creating again jump, although within a quite simple harmonic language. Thus, the writing of these waltzes is mostly one of the extremes, where the singing in octaves in the high register and the powerful and deep basses make the middle register perhaps a bit empty and the sonority suffers.

The waltzes present a regular symmetrical Romantic structure. The theme is repeated in octaves or ornamented (especially with appoggiaturas). There is no transformation of the material but variation or contrast of themes, which do not develop. The pedalization simply denotes emphasis in the first part of the bar, either in the cadences and, above all, feels necessary in the higher registers as he also recommends in the method^[25].

El anfión matritense. Waltz in G major. Performer: Julián Turiel. June 2018, AS Zaal, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag.

WORKS INSPIRED IN ITALIAN OPERA

If we take a look into Albeniz´s catalogue for pianoforte we can mostly observe a considerably large amount of works which have the inspiration in Italian opera. The answer to this can be found in the announcement of La Rosibella [or “the great Italian symphony taken from the most pleasing pieces of operas composed by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and others of such well-known merit"], published by Hermoso and Lodre in 1834:

La mayor parte de las piezas de una ópera tienen varios pasajes favoritos y de gusto general. El placer que puede recibir el oído al escuchar una pieza compuesta de dichos pasajes enlazados con arte, lo deja a la consideración de los aficionados, pues sin disputa es lo más grato que puede tocarse en el piano, y por consiguiente de más fácil ejecución, que puede verificar cualquiera señorita aunque no tenga mucha práctica, y lucirse extraordinariamente con poco trabajo, pues su mismo gusto estimula al estudio y la fija con mucha facilidad en la memoria. Los tres primeros números serán sacados de las mejores sinfonías, e irán combinados de tal modo, que si se quiere se tocarán dos, tres o más números o cuadernos juntos, y parecerá una sola pieza.

Most of the operas have several favorite passages that are also the audience preference. The aural pleasure while listening to a piece composed by those passages artistically linked, is left to the consideration of the fans, because it is, without a doubt, the most pleasant thing that can be played on the piano, and therefore of easier execution. Any lady can extraordinarily verify with little work because its very taste stimulates the study and fixes it very easily in the memory. There will be taken the first three numbers from the best symphonies and will be combined in such a way that, no matter if you play two, three or more numbers or books, it will look like one piece. ^[30]

The Italian opera is described as general taste, the most pleasant and the easiest to play. This kind of music was not only heard in theatres but also in most of the music circles. There is no doubt that the pianoforte was the preferred instrument to take all these favorite passages from the operas and made them possible to play for amateur musicians. Apparently, they were conceived as the fastest pieces to be learned because they were colorful and familiar to the ear of the student.

In fact, according to XX most of the operas had their own piano arrangement:

"One could easily track the opera premieres and their success simply by counting the fortepiano arrangements that are published each year. Although today we may be surprised by this practice, in the 19^th century any successful operatic premiere was followed by the piano arrangement of its most important numbers or even the entire opera, including overture".^[31]

Thus, the opera was also trendy within the pianoforte context of the time. From the beginning of the 19th-century collections of opera, arrangements are edited. Example of this are the set of pieces described in El Eco de la ópera italiana (1833), which gathers the most famous opera pieces from Il Pirata, Esule di Roma, Anna Bolena, Monteschi, Fausta, Sonnámbula, Straniera, Donna del Lago, Otelo, Moïses, etc. arranged for pianoforte.

In addition, fantasies, rondos, pollacas, capriccios and variations on opera themes or motifs were not only made for the taste of the amateur public but for synthesizing the content of an opera. So, it cannot be ensured that the purpose of this repertoire was further than arrangements, reductions of the most popular parts of these operas, performed as a kind of service to the amateur pianist lover of music, and, therefore, of the Italian opera. In 1830 operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Pacini, Ricci, etc., were fashionable and at least two by Spanish authors: Elena and Malvina by Carnicer and Ipermestra by Saldoni.

Among the foreign composers who developed this kind of repertoire can be found: Herz, Czerny, Hünten, Duvernoy or Thalberg. We can also find names in Spain apart from Pedro Albéniz, for example, Basilio Basili, the Ronzi brothers, Alejandro Esain, Romano Hurtado de Mendoza, José Sobejano, Santiago Medeck or Joaquín Espín y Guillén.

VARIATIONS

During this time, variations and fantasies are closely related in many aspects. First of all, both genres had the same sources of inspiration: folklore and opera. Furthermore, both give the composer the context to develop a virtuosic and rich language. 

As his chronology shows us, the variations were written before the fantasies. This fact, together with his consideration on composing fantasies, explains the influences that the variation genre has on the fantasies, being often a common compositional method. Variations analyzed for this research were: The Variaciones brillantes sobre el Himno de Riego, op. 28, The Variaciones brillantes para fortepiano sobre la Introducción and the Variaciones brillantes sobre el aria favorite “Mira, Oh Norma, ai tuoi ginocchi” de la Norma de Bellini, op. 27 and 33 and The Variaciones para piano sobre un coro from Il Crocciato in Egitto de Meyerbeer. Other variations written by P. Albéniz whose score could not be found during the research process were: the Variaciones para piano sobre "Tu vedrai la sventurata" from Il Pirata by Bellini, and, the Variaciones brillantes para piano y cuarteto de cuerda sobre “El ultimo pensamiento” by Bellini, op. 8.

The form and thematic content of the variations are relatively simple. After analyzing all the variations we were able to get, the most recurrent structure is the following:

Introduction+ theme + three variations - very elaborate final (Coda + Finale)

The Introductions are usually written in the same tonality as the theme as a way of setting the mood of the piece. They are often quite big in terms of writing, probably conceived as a short overture or prelude. They are inspired in orchestral textures: tremolos imitating drumrolls, big wide arpeggios as performed by a harp, octaves, and chords on dotted rhythms, very typical of brass band instruments. His dimension is also a resemblance to the kind of work that is presented. For example, the Variaciones sobre el himno de Riego are his biggest set and we can observe that from the introduction. It constantly changes the character and the texture, the writing is very virtuosic from the beginning (large passages of scales, arpeggios, repeated notes, octaves) and the specification in the character indications is nothing compared to the rest of the Variations set. (The examples can be visualized in the right side)