Albeniz was not a romantic in the same sense as Chopin or Schumann.

Objectivity and realism are consistent characteristics of his style, and this

emotional detachment set him apart from other Spanish composers ofthe

late nineteenth century. A trait he had in common with them was the

tendency to look to the Spanish countryside for native sources of

inspiration.

Manuel de Falla embodies the spirit of contemporary Spanish music.

He was a master craftsman who evidently did not allow everything he

composed to be published. Although he wrote little for the piano, his

music for that instrument reverberates with local color and sheer sonic

splendor. Included among his piano works are Pieces espagnoles

(Spanish Pieces), Fantasia betica (Baetican Fantasy), and Danza ritual

delfuego (Ritual Fire Dance), an orchestral piece from of the ballet El

amor brujo, from which Falla made a solo piano arrangement.

Program notes by Jose Meliton and Elena Martin

Adapted and edited by Elmer Booze

For the convenience ofconcertgoers,

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:30 p.m.

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell

phones, pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

The Sixtieth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2416th Concert

ELENA MARTIN and JOSE MELITON, duo-pianists

Presented in honor of the exhibition Goya: Images of Women

Sunday Evening, 7 April 2002

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
PROGRAM

Enrique Granados Complaints, or The Maja and the Nightingale

(1867-1916) from Goyescas (1911-1912)

(Arranged for two pianos by Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson)

Antonio Soler

(1729-1783)

Concerto No. 6 for Two Keyboards

Allegro; andante

Minue

Isaac Albeniz

(1860-1909)

Cadiz (Cancion) from Suite espahola (1866)

(Transcribed for two pianos by Elena Martin)

Manuel de Falla

(1876-1946)

Spanish Dance No. 1 from La vida breve

(Transcribed for two pianos by Elena Martin)

Albeniz Sevilla (Sevillanas) from Suite espahola

(Transcribed for two pianos by Elena Martin)

INTERMISSION

Albeniz Pavana capricho

Op. 12 (1883)

(Transcribed for two pianos by Elena Martin)

Soler Concerto No. 1 for Two Keyboards

Andante

Minue

Soler

Andantino

Minue

Concerto No. 3 for Two Keyboards

Granados Allegro de concierto

(Transcribed for two pianos by Elena Martin)

Falla Spanish Dance No. 2 from La vida breve

(Transcribed for two pianos by Elena Martin)

Albeniz Aragon (Fantasia) from Suite espahola

(Transcribed for two pianos by Elena Martin)

Elena Martin and Jose Meliton have wide experience as both solo and

ensemble performers and have won numerous competitions in the United

States, Asia, and Europe. Currently dividing their time between Spain

and the United States, they have received warm response to their

performances of Spanish music for two pianos four hands, much of

which has been transcribed for this medium by Elena Martin. They have

appeared on Radio Nacional de Espana, National Public Radio, Radio

and Television of Hong Kong, Radio Rijnmond Rotterdam, and the

Spanish-language cable network Galavision. Martin and Meliton both

hold the titulo superior de piano from the Real Conservatorio Superior

de Musica de Madrid as well as master of music degrees from the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Their musical endeavors

receive regular support from the Spanish Ministry of External Affairs,

which assisted with the recording and release of their most recent CD

(Duende) on the Centaur label. Reviews of the recording have appeared

in such prestigious music magazines as American Music Teacher,

American Record Guide, and Musica y Educacion (Madrid).

For political and economic reasons, a lack of national identity plagued 

Spanish composers during the nineteenth century. Italian music

dominated the Iberian Peninsula, preventing the Spanish musical heritage
from growing and barring German and Russian musical influences from

the region completely. Only in the last two decades of the nineteenth 

century and the early part of the twentieth century was there a

renaissance of the indigenous arts in Spain. In piano music, this rebirth

resulted in a magnificent repertoire created by four distinguished 

composers: Isaac Albeniz, Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla, and

Joaquin Turina. Their works constitute what has been called the golden

age of piano music in Spain. They created a truly Spanish nationalist 

school and freed Spain from the influence of Italian music. Another 

composer, Felipe Pedrell, who was also a musicologist and critic,

promoted this development, encouraging his students (among them 

Albeniz and Granados) to change the course of Spanish music history by

exploiting the distinctive characteristics ofthe emerging Spanish idiom.

Many of these idiomatic gestures were drawn from a rich and diverse

tradition of folk music and dance. Instruments such as the castanets and

the guitar contributed special rhythmic and melodic patterns. In addition,

Arab influences manifested themselves in melismatic passages and

unusual scale patterns. All Spanish and some non-Spanish composers of

keyboard music from Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1787) onward have

introduced these patterns as well as guitar effects into their works. The

slow, expressive cante jondo (Gypsy deep song), an integral part of

Spanish folklore, was the source of inspiration for the more melancholy 

melodies. On the other hand, the lively Spanish dance tunes, rich in

color, life, and emotion, continue to be a passionate force that directly 

affects the listener.

Enrique Granados identified strongly with Francisco de Goya and

dedicated much of his work to reproducing in music the romantic

ambiance of the Madrid that Goya passionately portrayed in his paintings

and tapestries. He wrote: “I fell in love with the psychology of Goya,

with his palette. With him, and with the Duchess of Alba, with his Maja

Sehora, with his models, with his disputes, loves, and flirtations....” The

piano suite Goyescas is Granados’ masterpiece and holds an important

place in the repertoire. Quejas o La maja y el ruisehor (Complaints, or

The Maja and the Nightingale) is a lovely character piece from this

collection. The emphasis on melody, lush harmonies, sensitive

exploitation of the instrument’s sonorities, and poetic atmosphere (all

reminiscent of Chopin’s artistic sensibilities) have made the work an

extremely popular item in the romantic piano literature. In 1914

Granados expanded Goyescas into an opera bearing the same name.

The preeminent composer of Spanish music from the eighteenth

century, Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783) studied at the choir school of

the Montserrat Monastery before becoming an apprentice under the

famous organist and composer Jose Elias (fl. 1715-1751). Elias had been

a pupil of Juan Bautista Jose Cabanilles (1644-1712), chief organist of

the Cathedral of Valencia. While still a youth, Soler was appointed

music master of Lerida Cathedral. Shortly after entering the Hieronymite

order in 1752, Soler was named organist and choirmaster of El Escorial

Monastery outside Madrid, a position he held until his death.

Between 1752 and 1757 Soler studied under Domenico Scarlatti

(1685-1757), who also resided in Madrid. Although Scarlatti left a

noticeable influence on Soler’s keyboard compositions, these pieces

should by no means be thought of as Scarlatti imitations, as Soler’s

music is deeply Iberian in nature and sentiment. In addition, the Italian

province of Naples, Scarlatti’s homeland, had been a Spanish possession

for only a short time, and the Italian hegemony in the Spanish musical

world that prevailed in the nineteenth century had not yet begun.

During the months when the Spanish royal family was in attendance at

El Escorial, Soler gave harpsichord instruction to the Infante Gabriel of

Bourbon, son of King Charles III. In order to challenge and entertain his

royal pupil, Soler composed six concertos for two keyboard players,

each consisting of two movements. The only extant source of these

concertos, a hand-written copy, is contained in the music archive of El

Escorial Monastery.

Although Isaac Albeniz associated with some of the best-known and

most influential French composers of his day (Gabriel Faure, Vincent

d’lndy, and Paul Dukas), he maintained a distinct Spanish flavor in his

music and became one ofthe musical heroes of his native land. Some of

his most important works for piano include La vega, Azulejos, Suite

espahola, Iberia, and Navarra.