FANTASIES FOR FOUR HANDS

Albéniz´s catalog contains a considerable amount of works for four hands. Actually, it is quite unusual that a composer writes more fantasies for four hands than four two and this was the case. Furthermore, if we take a look at the most prolific composers of the genre in Europe, none of them composed so many for four hands.

However, his fantasies for two and four hands have different purposes. While the fantasies for two hands are works designed to be published and present a great technical demand and a certain personal elaboration (particularly visible in the Fantasia sobre un motivo vasco antiguo). The fantasies for four hands are works thought for the classroom, they do not acquire the dimension, the technical difficulties or the personal elaboration of the others.

The fantasies for four hands maintain the structure in several contrasting sections in tempo and character. They are smaller works and similar in conception to the Danzas características españolas mentioned before. The secondo is normally playing the role of accompanist, making the harmonic sequences, although occasionally it has some melodic passages, always presented in a more demanding way than in the prima. On the other hand, the prima, performed by Queen Isabel II, consist in melodies within the corresponding tonality and, in the case of the passages quoted from the opera, the beautiful melodies extracted from it. This clearly favors learning, encouraging the student's motivation when playing melodies that are familiar to him.

The two fantasies based on motifs from Nabucco, op. 35 and 36 are probably the biggest examples of his fantasies for this formation.  They are structured in six sections and they quote different parts of the opera. In the case of the Fantasía para piano a cuatro manos sobre motivos de Nabucodonosor de Verdi, op. 35, the two fragments found belong to the Overture. The opera excerpts are not quoted in chronological order. In fact, the opening material of the Overture, which is indicated by Verdi with Andante and Maestoso, is taken by Albéniz for the fifth part of his fantasy, under the suggestions più moderato and sotto voce.

CHAPTER 3. HIS FORTEPIANO FANTASIES

THE FANTASY IN PEDRO ALBÉNIZ´S WORKS

During the Romantic era, the fantasy became one of the most important and cultivated genres in piano literature. In Spain, the only background we can find on it is related to the opera reductions that appeared during the beginning of the 19th century. These works were transcriptions of arias, cavatinas, and instrumental parts of well-known operas, and they had no intention of creating a proper work. However, these can be considered as predecessors of the fantasies and reflections of the importance that Italian opera had in the Spanish musical society. It was Pedro Albéniz who cultivated the genre as intensively as in France; for, it became the most published genre during the 1840s in Spain. He composed most of them after being appointed as organist and teacher of the Royal House, the period of his most intellectual maturity.

Most of the fantasies were based on opera themes, where the most quoted composer was Verdi^[1] (five fantasies^[2]), followed by Bellini (two)^[3] and Donizetti (one).^[4] Surprisingly, we have not found any fantasy or variation inspired by an opera by Rossini, despite the documented friendship that he and Albeniz had, at least during a part of their lives. Maybe the reason is that the most represented operas in the Teatro del Circo during those years were Verdi's^[5]. However, is possible to find music by Rossini among the pieces played by Albéniz’s students^[6] at the Conservatory and also in the programs of his concerts.^[7]

Most of Albéniz's fantasies are written for four hands. Only three of them are two hands, and it is difficult to be sure if they were originally like that or if they are arrangements made from a four-handed version. In this particular case, it is difficult to know which was written first. Both types of fantasies have in common inspiration from several fragments of an opera.

In a second place, there are smaller fantasies based on one theme. New pieces based on operas by Bellini (Fantasía-La sonámbula sobre una cavatina[2]  for four hands or the fantasies on different parts of Norma - the introduction, the final aria, a duo, the terzetto, and the end). He also composed a small fantasy on La Violeta by the Spanish composer Carrafa, something that Herz also did. All these works have one element in common: they don’t seem to have the same recipient as, for example, the fantasies for two hands. They are not such demanding works and, like in the case of the small fantasy on La Violeta, seem to be a composition for the class.

In a third place, there are fantasies written for pianoforte and an ensemble (such as a string quartet or quintet) based on motifs from La sonámbula, I Capuletti ed I Montecchi by Bellini or la Parisina d´Este and Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.

In the last category, an exception can be found. The only fantasies known on a non-operatic theme are Ill Edo Garaitú, the Fantasía sobre un motivo vasco antiguo, and the small fantasy called Rosa-Luisa. It has not been possible to find the score of the fantasy Rosa-Luisa but the analysis on Ill Edo Garitú will come later.

Albéniz's fantasies have several functions. First is the diffusion of the opera in fashion, fitting the most famous or popular themes in a new piano work. Second, they serve to expand the piano language, adapting it sometimes even for other genres such as the waltz or the nocturne. It feeds back.[3]  The fantasies became the perfect environment for the pianist to shine by way of Albeniz’s virtuosic and demanding leggiero writing, which has the greatest technical difficulties of the time and requires a mastery of the mechanism of the instrument. At the same time, it is a genre that allows a lot of formal freedom, granting licenses to the composer himself and also to the performer to develop his imaginative and creative side. Finally, through this ability to arrange the works in different ways (two or four hands, chamber music - either quartet or quintet), he offers to his students of any level the possibility of enjoying works that are perhaps sometimes beyond their technical abilities. At the same time, they are a very positive channel to integrate known difficulties within a familiar context, as the opera was at that time.

Taking a look at his compositional procedures, we can differentiate two ways of composing the fantasies:

✓    Direct transcription of the orchestral tutti of one or several scenes or parts of the opera.

✓    The use of the variation as a procedure to elaborate  the theme. It is precisely the main reason why the difference is not so delimitated between variations and fantasies on opera themes in this time. Generally, the fantasies are more clearly divided into contrasting passages, but they also contain themes with variations.

Both procedures can be appreciated in most of the fantasies inspired by opera themes. However, it can also be observed that he tends to use the variation more when his works are not inspired by the opera, as seen in  Fantasía sobre un motive vasco antiguo, and  Rondó brillante a la Tirana sobre los temas del Trípili y la Cachucha, which are two of his most personal pieces.

In the Fantasía para piano a cuatro manos sobre motivos escogidos de Nabucco op. 36, he collects excerpts from the second, third and fourth parts of the opera. From the second part, it can be found Abigaille´s scene at the beginning of the act, “Anch´io dischiuso un giorno”:

The indication Tempo di Marcia that seems to be Albéniz´s inspiration for his section of the fantasy is presented by Verdi in the Tutti for the introductory choir at the beginning of the third part of the opera. However, the material is written in D major but it will be in the Marziale of the “Preludio, Scena ed aria” from the fourth act of the opera, when the passage is in the key of E-flat major, the same one that Albéniz will use in the fifth part of his Fantasia para piano a cuatro manos sobre motivos escogidos de Nabucco, op. 36.

The rest of the fantasies found and analyzed, based on motifs from Ernani, I Lombardi and Attila, all operas by Verdi, are shorter and contain less material from the corresponding opera.

Within the Fantasía para piano a cuatro manos sobre motivos escogidos de la ópera Ernani de Verdi, it stands out the excerpt from the Prelude of the opera in the second of the four parts in which the fantasy is structured:

The Fantasía para piano a cuatro manos sobre motivos de la ópera I Lombardi de Verdi is the shortest one - contains only one fragment from the opera- which proceeds from the Andante of the scene number two of the second Act. The fragment fits perfectly as the B part of a three-part fantasy and as a perfect contrast between two fast movements:

The next five pages, indicated under the tempo Più mosso are, like in the previous case, variations of the theme. As in the first theme, the variations have also the same structure but they are not so clearly delimited with double bar lines as the other ones. The first variation is indicated with tre corde and leggiero and is divided into three parts as well. The first one of them is built with thirty-second note arpeggios that force the right hand to go through the keyboard register from side to side. During the second one is also the right hand at command but the design changes and is built now with written out thrills that finish with diatonic scales. The third part recovers the same writing as the first to finish with a coda of the variation.

When turning the page, we find a sudden change of tonality. Through a harmonic sequence of three chords, Albéniz prepares us for the second variation. In this case, it is only a variation of the first part of the theme and the difficulty of execution is more distributed between hands. The fragment is based on the division of the theme´s material between the hands. In the first four bars, a more difficult version of the theme is played with the left hand and, in the other four bars of the phrase, a more challenging version of the theme is played with the right.

FANTASIES FOR TWO HANDS

The fantasies for two hands by Pedro Albéniz are the minority within his piano works. All of them can be considered at the same level as his most accomplished works such as the Variaciones sobre el himno de Riego, op. 28 or the Rondó a la Tirana sobre los temas del Tripoli and la Cachucha.

Among the three of them, two are inspired on opera themes (from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti and I Puritani by Bellini) and one is inspired on the Basque folklore. Both fantasies based on opera themes have common elements with the fantasies for four hands that we have just analyzed, although always within a context of greater technical demand and bigger dimension and ambition: several sections, the exact use of material from the opera and its alternation with the material of personal development. Normally, the quoted fragments are usually slow, moderato or marches. On the other hand, the introduction and the coda are almost always personal development material because they are the perfect context to show personal abilities.

The favorite compositional procedure is the same as the rest of his work, the variation, and the characteristics of his piano language comparable to those of the most demanding works of his repertoire.

The variation procedure will be used in a more solid and convincing way within the Fantasía sobre un motive vasco antiguo which leaves a bit of that structure in multiple sections with contrasting tempos and characters. In this work, also with the introduction and coda, we find two themes with their respective variations, one of them from the Basque folklore that gives its name to the work.

Ill Edo Garaitú: Fantasia sobre un motivo vasco antiguo, op.  42 [Ill Edo Garaitú: Fantasy on an ancient basque motif, op. 42]

Published around 1840^[1]in Madrid by Lodre and dedicated to the Queen Isabel II, the Fantasía brillante para piano entitled Ill Edo Garaitú and based on an ancient Basque motif, was apparently performed with only 10 years old by the disciple of Pedro Albéniz, Concha Ymbert, in the Royal Chamber in presence of Queen Isabel II^[2].

It has a particular organization. Apart from the standardize introduction and coda, we can also find two different themes with their respective variations.

The introduction presents an unusual elaborated structure where three different tempi determinate the organization of the fragment: Allegro Strepitoso (b. 1-11), Moderato (b. 12-19) and Poco animato (b. 20-32).

The Allegro strepitoso bursts with brilliant writing of scales (Right hand) and tremolos (Left hand) that goes from piano to forte over an unexpected A- flat minor harmony that dilutes in the dominant in pianissimo to prepare the moderato.

Poco animato, under the indication ad ambi mani, supposes a complete change of character. From the beginning of the passage, the musical intention points out to the instability through a written out thrill and the return to the minor mode. The dominant prepares the first really important happening of the piece: the first theme.

 The first thematic material is presented in 2/4, in the major mode (A-flat major), and harmonized with closely related chords. It has a two-part structure and seems to be inspired in the dance world. The first part begins and finishes in the tonic and the second one goes from the dominant to the tonic.

After this exhibition of mechanism that seems presented as a coda of the first theme, a new thematic material appears under the indication of motivo vasco (Basque motif) that gives the name to the piece. Everything seems to suggest that the motive has its origin in the popular dance and singing: tempo Moderato non troppo, espressivo il canto, 3/8, very rhythmical accompaniment, the type of ornamentation we find in the melody and even the structure of it -8 bar phrases and ABA form.  The new material brings with it a new key, E-major, and the new bar, a new metric sensation: 

The moderato, already in major mode, opens with the specification of playing the bass with the left hand (mano manca). It is built with a two-bar motif that brings together the arpeggio of the corresponding harmony with a melodic motif that also combines triplets and dotted rhythm in the corresponding harmony.

The next three pages contain two variations of the theme within Albéniz's compositional style. The Più mosso (b.49) is basically a modification of the theme where all the protagonism goes the right hand, playing scales within the corresponding harmony. The Meno mosso (b. 66) is a synthesis of bravura and virtuosity limited to the form and the harmonic sequence of the first theme of fantasy. In the first part, he employs only the head of the motif, substituting the rest of it for arpeggios, scales and repeated double notes. However, in the second part (b. 74), it gets even more difficult. The theme is played occasionally in the right hand but is interrupted by fulgurating scales and arpeggios that flash through the keyboard from one side to the other. 

After this dramatic episode, Più animato bursts with a rich and orchestral writing and energetic and passionate character, serving as a bridge to the next direct relationship with the opera.

The Moderato that follows supposes an absolute change of color. Besides the modulation to the major mode, Albéniz suggests pianissimo and una corda (Celeste). In addition, the change is also clear in texture. The melody sings in octaves over a very stable accompaniment. In fact, it is the texture and specifically, the accompaniment, the one that determines the structure of the fragment. After the calmness of the first sixteen bars, a more elaborated accompaniment derives in a more intricate and polyphonic texture that guides us again to known material. The triplets of sixteen notes from the introduction emerge as the staging of Lucia´s fight for life.

The Vivace begins as the necessary contrast that the piece needed. Full of sharp and brilliant rhythm and within the extroverted key of B-flat major, the composer shows us here the favorite elements of his language: repeated notes, octaves, double notes, broken octaves, and tremolos, among others.  The whole fragment is divided and based on two contrasting motifs that can be found in combination with three different accompaniments.

The funeral march enters without hesitation (attaca) and under the indication of sotto voce. The fragment is a dialogue between a quartet and the unappealable answer of the death. Built with the same melodic and harmonic material, it can be divided into two parts according to the register employed: the first eight bars, sotto voce, belong to the darker environment and the next twelve, move to the middle register of the piano towards an espressivo feeling. Furthermore, the passage is a literal quote from the Opera (Scene VI, Maestoso) where Lucia collapses and it is not clear if she will live or die. 

Lucia di Lammermoor

It was entitled as the Opera by Donizetti[1], Lucia di Lammermoor[2], published in Madrid around 1844 by Lodre and Carrafa and dedicated to his student Casimira Echagüe[3]. The fantasy is divided into five parts with Introduction and Coda, as usual. Three of them (Marcia funebre, Moderato, and Andante) are taken from the final part of the Opera and are quoted literally in the same order in which they appear.

The introduction starts with a surprising tempo indication that shows a contrast between the first two musical ideas of the piece. Despite suggesting “Andante con moto” as the general tempo, Albéniz writes “Presto” on the first motif of sixteen notes and, one bar later, “A tempo”. After those first five bars, it starts the real introduction: tremolos in the left hand and octaves over it shaped in a very long line that finishes, of course, in a small cadenza typical of his leggiero style.  A new motif built with triplets of sixteen notes (as drumrolls) warns us that something macabre is about to come.

The last examples presented illustrate the uniqueness of this work within Albéniz´s catalog. Being, probably, the shortest and least demanding of his three fantasies for two hands published, presents certain compositional details (such as the use of the funerary motif in different parts of the work, the admirable variety in the accompaniments or the interesting piano writing of the end) that gives work a unique and special place in the author's catalog.

The alternation of both constitutes the organization of the passage that, after a sudden modulation to B minor, is interrupted by a brief Adagio.

The following Andante is one of the main parts of the piece and belongs to the Scena Ultima of the Opera by Donizetti. Written in the bright key of D major, it looks like a large finale written in ABAB form. The first part is the main theme of the section, where the melody sings in octaves over an accompaniment of repeated chords (the first time) and wide arpeggios of thirty-second notes (the second time). The second part carries out a contrast again.  A contrast in tempo, writing and above all, character. Starting from the lightness, the sweetness and the agility of the right hand we reach an energetic and pathetic end that culminates, in the first case in an Adagio that leads us again to the first part and, in the second one,  in an extremely demanding and apotheosis end.

A spectacular four bars of virtuosity under the indication of Allegro brillante serve as a link for the next section of the piece. The Allegretto is also a transcription of the orchestral tutti and continuation of the same part of the opera, which is why Albéniz transcribes one material practically next to the other. Now in the key of B-flat major and the suggestion con grazia from the composer, it accompanies a cheerful singing (“A festa, a festa, a festa”). It is a three-part structured, ABA. The A part lands in the happiness of B-flat major while the B part goes dolcemente (as Albeniz says) to the minor mode (“garzon che mira Elvira”). A variation of A part stands out to lead us, first, through a pretty interesting modulation to G-flat major (b. 208), and then, diatonically going down and chromatically going up to end up in the surprising tonality of E- major.

The Larguetto maestoso in F major is a clear transcription of the orchestral tutti that accompanies this quartet in the Opera. Very few variations are done and all of them within the corresponding harmony (e. i. b. 101-108 and b. 118-124). The section can be divided into two thematic materials which are repeated, as always, through the variation. The sixteen notes triplets lead us to a four-bar codetta of the section.

The fifth part of this multisectional piece, the Andante in E major, starts with Albéniz suggestions con espressione and molto legato, which give us quite a clue of the character of this fragment. 

The composer conducts us through his ideal of expression for the passage: ternerezza, amabile, cantabile, delicate; turning at the end into something slightly different (languid, mesto). The writing serves the musical idea with deep bass, accompaniments that help the singing line of the right hand and that certainly requires pedal to make the idea comprehensive.

Solving the tension of the dominant seventh chord from the last measure of the previous section enters this Allegro sostenuto e marziale in B minor that works as finale and coda of the piece. There are four pages, again, of varied virtuosity, which include several of the most demanding designs: repeated double notes and chords, octaves and scales in staccato and broken octaves. In addition, some of the material used by Albéniz has a clear connection with the Allegro sostenuto and marziale from the beginning of the opera. 

In contrast with Lucia di Lammermoor, the fantasy previously analyzed, I believe that this work acquires greater dimensions. It is not clear the reason for this difference in writing. Maybe it is the nature of the music in which it is inspired or perhaps both works had different recipients. However, both have common elements. Albéniz takes an orchestral fragment of the corresponding opera and quotes it in an absolutely literal way. Normally this material composes the body of the fantasy and around it, he built his own ideas of the composer, which are mostly contained in the introduction, transition passages and codas. The composer´s ideas are, as always, presented within the same compositional style than the rest of his work: virtuosity, lightness, bravery, the richness of piano designs and tonal simplicity.

Fantasía elegante para piano forte sobre motivos escogidos de la ópera I Puritani de Bellini [Elegant Fantasy for pianoforte on chosen motifs from the Ópera I Puritani by Bellini]

It was published around 1831[1] in Madrid by Carrafa and in Paris by Mr. Pacini. and dedicated to María Francisca del Castillo, Countess of O. Reilly. The Fantasía elegante presents several motifs or excerpts of Bellini[2]´s Opera, I Puritani[3], as sections within the multisectional structure of this work.

The explicit relationship between the Opera and the fantasy seems to determine the structure but just from 3 of the sections, which appear in the same order than Bellini´s work. However, the first two sections and the coda are not so easy to relate with.

The introductory section or Allegro spiritoso as Albéniz indicated, opens in the joyful key of D major and presents very orchestral writing. There are some elements we can find that remember us to the opening overture (dotted rhythm of the brass, short scales designs from the woodwinds or the triplets of broken octaves also from the woodwinds) but we cannot point out any of this as a clear quote. Thus, the analysis made invites us to think that it comes purely from Albéniz´s creative process. However, we can affirm, by the type of writing that it presents, that this section seems to have a purpose similar to that of an instrumental overture: very big and rich sound, fast passages alternate with brief more cantabile moments, dotted rhythms and small designs that seem to imitate certain orchestral instruments.

Within this Allegro spiritoso we can differentiate two parts. The first one (until b. 44) presents extremely rich writing: chord, scales, tremolos, double notes, and octaves. The second part (b.44-79) gives continuously clues of a change of mood: dolce (b. 44, 54, 56, 58) con grazia (b. 61), leggiero (b. 65) but part of the previous material will come back to finish this introduction energetically.

The meno vivo presents a considerable contrast with the previous one. Change of tonality, now the light comes in with G-flat major, texture, and ambiance. Written as a string quartet, has a more polifonic content that will evaporate through a diminuendo, a ritardando and towards the new change of tonality, F major and the first fragment taken from the Opera by Bellini.