Classical Music by Spanish Composers

April 18, 2005 at 05:18 AM · Search for Granados, De Falla, Sarasate, Rodrigos. Jaroslav Vanecek (the hungarian composer) wrote the very 'showy' piece, "Spanish Rhapsody" for violin-solo which was written to the mamory of Sarasate. If you need duet, try "Navarra" by Sarasate (but you supposed to have really fine technique to play it).

Good luck.

April 18, 2005 at 07:39 PM · Did Turina write anything for violin??? Sarasate wrote really interesting and brilliant violin pieces, but Turina is wonderful too.

April 18, 2005 at 11:05 PM · Tomas Luis de Victoria (not a violin composer though, but Spanish).

Why did someone 'X' Erika again? Surely my unhelpful comment is more deserving!

April 19, 2005 at 12:11 AM · Hi, I'm from Spain, are you interested in violin/piano music or two violins??

And, yes, turina wrote 3 sonatas, and other pieces.

April 19, 2005 at 11:11 AM · Try some of the short Manuel Quiroga's and Joan Manen's pieces. Also the Rodrigo's "Sonata Pimpante"

April 19, 2005 at 03:44 PM · Granados has a sonata, and toldra a set of six nice "sonetos"

April 19, 2005 at 05:39 PM · Don't forget about Lalo, though he was french composer:)

April 20, 2005 at 05:47 PM · To answer Lawrence's question, Turina did write a violin sonata. It's a really young work of his (just after after opus 1) which he was critical of later in life. It's almost never played and I've not heard it yet. His later chamber music--like the trio and piano quartet--are great pieces and lots of fun to play.

April 20, 2005 at 07:53 PM · Turina has 3 sonatas!!!

April 21, 2005 at 12:07 AM · Asi es, tocayo. Las tengo grabadas. La primera es una obra juvenil sin mayor interés, pero las otras dos son una belleza.

April 21, 2005 at 02:19 AM · There is something of a problem defining who is a "Spanish" composer. Domenico Scarlatti [born 1685] and Luigi Boccherini [died 1803] spent a large portion of their lives in Spain and set and adapted many Spanish melodies, songs, and dances.

I believe a Spanish cathedral or court commissioned Franz Joseph Haydn's set of seven or eight string quartets "The Seven Last Words of Christ" for first performance in Spain on the week of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I think one is introductory, and then the "Seven Last Words" great violin music from late eighteenth century.

Would you consider adapting some of Andre Seqovia's guitar music? He is among the greatest recent Spanish musicians. He often performed works of Sor, Torrega, Torroba, as well as Enrique Granados and Isaac Albeniz.

You might want to consider New World Hispanic music - for example the "Habanera" in Carmen was inadvertently borrowed by Bizet from a Cuban composer who was a contemporary of his - Bizet thought it was a Cuban folk tune, but it was by a contemporary of his whose identity was known. Sources disagree how much Spanish ancestry Bizet himself had.

A Mexican of largely Native American ancestry Juventino Rosas died at the age of twenty-six but had a large output of songs, of which "Sobre Las Olas" [Over the Waves] in a minor key is world-famous, but he had a large output of other songs that must be worth investigating.

J. Morel Campos of Puerto Rico [about 1857 -1896] had a large output of "Danzas" which were edited by Jesus Maria SanRoma pianist long associated with Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Maurice Ravel is considered a French composer, but half his ancestry was Basque, I believe. His "Pavane for an Infante Defunte" has strong Spanish tradition behind it - Infante is the term for a princess. It was a memorial for the funeral of a high-ranking princess of Spain.

If you have time to study Medieval and Renaissance Spanish music it is very rich. Vittoria is remembered primarily for vocal music, but some of his could be adapted. You probably don't want the Russian Rimsky-Korsakov's well known "Rhapsody Espangol" though it has pretty melodies. Debussy wrote an Iberia suite. Zarzuelas are one-act operas particularly characteristic of the Madrid area - I don't know much about them at present but hope to investigate. Verdi's "Il Trovatore" and Mozart's "Don Giovanni" are famous classic operas set in Spain with Spanish music effects borrowed and adapted.

April 21, 2005 at 02:26 AM · Mr. Barrett:

What informed input you have just offered us!

April 21, 2005 at 07:55 PM · Carlos, Felix ayo???

April 21, 2005 at 08:32 PM · No. Victor Martin en violi­n y Miguel Zanetti en piano. Es un LP español que copie a CD. Excelente version. Pero no se si esta en CD.

April 29, 2005 at 08:54 PM · I omitted a great favorite in the old days - by an unimpeachably Spanish composer from Iberia - "La Paloma" by Yradier also spelled Iradier.

Check works of Manuel de Falla to see which are suitable for violin, also.

April 29, 2005 at 09:07 PM · Quiroga wrote some interesting works.

June 2, 2005 at 06:01 PM · Turina-La Oracion del Torero

(the Bullfighter's Prayer.)

And I have an extra copy if you want to trade me something for it.