Die Orchesterwerke Isaac Albéniz' nach dem Manuskript 984 der „Biblioteca de Catalunya": Versuch einer einschätzung

Abstract

This paper mainly deals with Isaac Albéniz' orchestral music (1860-1909), often partially reviled in favor of his piano music, after Manuscript 984 from the "Biblioteca de Cataluya" (Barcelona coming to light, and having its origin in the musician's family legacy. The composer born in Camprodon appears here located in the context of the Catalan Modernism at the change of the century who is then partially influenced by the first waves of Wagnerism, from the interpretations by german composed performed in Spain, Manuscript 984 clearly shows the insuperable contradiction that the scholar has to face when considering completed works like the tone poem Catalonia (1908), with a remarkably rich orchestration reminding the French scent of the Paul Dukas school; on the other, a number of rough drafts, often written an extremely neglected scoring technique, that seem to be created by a different composer. Compositions like the aforementioned Catalonia suggest the necessity of considering the probable intervention of an orchestrator in Albéniz' works in which the orchestral palette appears with a wider range of nuances.