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Scan 101
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1927
32 lines. Read by computer on 5 September 2026. Printed page 55. See the scan on archive.org.
1ALBÉNIZ
3Teaching, however, was not congenial to him, and he soon left Madrid, passing the rest of his life mainly in London and Paris. To his London period belong the comic opera 'The Magic Opal' (libretto by Money-Coutts), produced in 1893, and the more ambitious 'Enrico Clifford' and 'Pepita Jiménez.' The latter is founded on the admirable novel by Juan Valera; it has been performed at Barcelona (1895), Dresden, Leipzig and Prague, and (newly orchestrated) in Paris and Brussels. It has not, however, held the stage. Other operas by Albéniz include 'Poor Jonathan,' 'The Magic Ring,' produced in London; 'San Antonio de la Florida,' and the zarzuelas 'Cuanto más viejo,' 'Los catalanes en Grecia,' written for Madrid. He wrote another light opera, 'L'Hermitage fleuri,' and left unfinished a trilogy on the subject of King Arthur.
5Albéniz was always a prolific writer for the pianoforte, but he attached little importance to his earlier works. He is said to have sold the copyright of his popular 'Pavana' for 15 pesetas (12s. 6d.), the price of a ticket for an important bull-fight. In later life he came under the influence of Debussy and was numbered with the advanced school of French composers. His two sets of pianoforte pieces, 'Iberia' and the less known 'Catalonia,' 'La Vega,' 'Navarra,' and 'Azulejos' (finished by Granados), are filled with the rhythm and colour of the South. 'Iberia' consists of 12 'scenes' from different corners of Spain, inspired by the rhythms, harmonies, and turns of phrase for Spanish popular music; particularly the songs and dances of Andalucía. As a Catalan by birth, Albéniz could look on Andaluz music with something of the detachment of a foreigner; and if he did not penetrate to the true essence of it (as Falla has done), he realised that its determining features were the combination of strong, conflicting rhythms; the harmonic effects naturally obtained from instruments tuned in fourths; and the wavering, profusely ornamented melodies of the native Cante Hondo (q.v.). At the back of his mind there is generally a guitar-player who ends with the 'Phrygian cadence,' a dancer whose castanets are always syncopating against each other, and sometimes (as in 'Triana') the shake and bang of a tambourine. Albéniz did not try to reproduce these things in his music; he endeavoured to suggest them on the pianoforte. The whole of his later work is a brilliantly pianistic evocación of Spanish popular music, constructed on the principle of the pianoforte piece of that name, in which the 'Jota' of Navarre is contrasted with a melody from Andalucía.
7J. B. T.
9ALBÉNIZ, PEDRO (b. Biscay, c. 1755; d. circa 1821), a Spanish monk, conductor of the music at the Cathedral of St. Sebastian, and (1795) at that of Logrono; composed masses, vespers, motets and other church music, never published, and a book of solfeggi (St. Sebastian, 1800).
11ALBÉNIZ, PEDRO (b. Logroño, Apr. 14, 1795; d. Madrid, Apr. 12, 1855), son of a musician, Mateo Albéniz (v. Nin, 18 Sonatas antiguas de autores españoles); organist from the age of thirteen at various towns in Spain, including Logroño and San Sebastian. In 1830 he became professor of the pianoforte in the Conservatoire at Madrid, and four years later was appointed first organist of the Capilla Real.
13He introduced the modern style of pianoforte-playing into Spain, and all the eminent pianists of Spain and South America may be said to have been his pupils. He held various high posts at the court, and in 1841 was appointed teacher of the pianoforte to Queen Isabella II. and the Infanta María Luisa. His works comprise a Method for the pianoforte (Madrid, 1840), adopted by the Conservatoire of Madrid, 70 compositions for the pianoforte (mainly variations, fantasies, and rondos on operatic melodies and national tunes), and songs.
15M. C. C.; addns. J. B. T.
17ALBERGATI, COUNT PIRRO CAPACELLI (b. circa 1663; d. circa 1735), of an ancient family in Bologna, an amateur, and a distinguished composer. From 1687 he was in the service of the Emperor Leopold I. His works include:
19The operas, 'Gli Amici' (1699), 'Il Principe selvaggio' (1712); the oratorios 'Giobbe' (Bologna, 1688), 'L'Innocenza di Santa Eufemia' (1700), and 'Il Convito di Baldassare' (1702); sacred cantatas, masses, motets, etc., and compositions for various instruments.
21ALBERICI, GIACOMO (b. Sarnico, near Bergamo; d. Rome, 1650), an Augustinian monk who died as Vicar-General. He wrote a Catalogo breve degli illustri scrittori venetiani (Bologna, 1605), in which he gives important particulars about thirteen Venetian musicians of the 16th century.
23E. v. d. s.
25ALBERT (ALBERTI ?), an Italian violist (Mendel calls him a 'violinist,' which of course is an error as there were no violins before 1550), was taken to Paris by Francis I. c. 1530, as 'ménestrier' of the Royal Chapel. He was considered the greatest virtuoso on his instrument, and Guido d'Arezzo called him 'The light of art.'
27E. v. d. s.
29ALBERT, MARGRAVE OF MALASPINA (c. 1300), a noble troubadour who wrote a love-song and a tenzone addressed to the famous troubadour, Rambaut de Vaquéiras, whose lady-love he had won for himself, in which he boasts of his raids and robberies in the fights between the Lombardian Republics.
31ALBERT, (1) CHARLES LOUIS NAPOLÉON D' (b. Menstetten, near Altona, Hamburg, Feb. 25, 1809; d. London, May 26, 1886). His father, François Benoît d'Albert, was a captain of cavalry in the French army. On his death in 1816 the mother and son emigrated to England. She was a good musician, and her son's first
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