JOHN WILLIAMS - ASTURIAS

ASTURIAS

JOHN WILLIAMS

COMPOSITOR: ISAAC ALBENIZ

PAÍS: SPAIN

ALBUM: ECHOES OF SPAIN

DISCOGRÁFICA: SONY MUSIC

GÉNERO: ALLEGRO

AÑO: 1975

Isaac Albéniz (Camprodón, 29 de maio de 1860 - Cambô-les-Bains, 18 de maio de 1909) foi um compositor, pianista e dramaturgo espanhol.

Asturias (Leyenda), named simply Leyenda by its composer, is a musical work by the Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz.

The opening is shown here in piano score. The repeated D is an example of the use of a pedal note

The piece, which lasts around six minutes in performance, was originally written for the piano and set in the key of G minor. It was first published in Barcelona, by Juan Bta. Pujol & Co., in 1892 as the prelude of a three-movement set entitled Chants d'Espagne.

The name Asturias (Leyenda) was given to it posthumously by the German publisher Hofmeister, who included it in the 1911 "complete version" of the Suite española, although Albéniz never intended the piece for this suite. Despite the new name, this music is not considered suggestive of the folk music of the northern Spanish region of Asturias, but rather of Andalusian flamenco traditions. Leyenda, Hofmeister's subtitle, means legend. The piece is noted for the delicate, intricate melody of its middle section and abrupt dynamic changes.

Albéniz's biographer, Walter Aaron Clark, describes the piece as "pure Andalusian flamenco". In the main theme the piano mimics the guitar technique of alternating the thumb and fingers of the right hand, playing a pedal-note open string with the index finger and a melody with the thumb. The theme itself suggests the rhythm of the bulería — a fast flamenco form. The ‘marcato’/'staccato’ markings suggest both guitar sounds and the footwork of a flamenco dancer. The piece sounds as though it is written in the Phrygian mode which is typical of bulerías. The second section is a reminiscent of a copla — a sung verse following a specific form. Clark states that it is written in typical Albéniz form as it is "presented monophonically but doubled at the fifteenth for more fullness of sound. The music alters between a solo and accompaniment that is typical of flamenco. The short middle section of the piece is written in the style of a malagueña — another flamenco style piece. The malagueña borrows two motives from the previous copla and builds on them. The piece returns to its first theme until a slow "hymn-like" passage ends the piece.

John Towner Williams (Long Island, 8 de fevereiro de 1932) é um aclamado compositor americano premiado várias vezes por suas trilhas sonoras.