The Artistic Style And Performance Of The Albenis Piano Suite "Iberia"

Isaac Albéniz(1860 – 1909) was the greatest Spanish composer and pianist.Albéniz, having died at a young age of 48, left behind him a great quantity of musical masterpieces which cover a wide variety of musical forms such as piano music, vocal and choral music, orchestral music, concertos and chamber music etc.Iberia, the most representative and best known piano work of Albéniz's, stands out like a shining pearl among all the piano works in the 20 th century.Iberia was composed between 1906 and 1908. It can be said that this masterpiece was nurtured by the Spanish culture and customs as well as Spanish folk music. Spanish culture has a special exotic touch that is both mysterious and wild. With its unique charm and splendor, Spanish music plays a notable role in the music world. The strong attraction of Spanish music would make it difficult for you to turn your eyes away once it grasped your attention. In the meantime, the music of Spain was also influenced by its history and culture. Located in Europe, Spain is a country that was subject to both the influence of European culture and the Christian religion. Since 711 AC, when the Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula and ruled Spain for 781 years long, the country had also been profoundly influenced by Muslim culture. In addition, the massive immigration of the Gypsies in the 15 th century had brought new blood into Spanish music, becoming one of the major elements that shaped Spanish music. Iberia is composed of four books of three pieces each. This thesis makes it analysis on the basis of Book 1.This thesis is written in 3 Chapters. Chapter One Albéniz and Iberia briefly introduces the life of Albéniz, briefly introduces the life of Albéniz and his music composition. Chapter Two the National and Artistic Characters of Iberia, using Book1 as an example, analyzes the Spanish elements of Iberia as well as its musical structure, speed and intensity. Chapter 3 interprets the key-touching, pedal and melody in the actual performance of Iberia.Albéniz is known to be the greatest Spanish composer and one of the greatest musicians of the late 19 th and early 20 th century. However, there are very few researches dedicated to Albéniz and even more so when it comes to studies on Iberia.To match his role and his contribution to the music world, Albéniz should be given more academic attention. Writer of this paper believes in the saying that "truth is the daughter of time". As time goes by, Albéniz and his Iberia will attract more and more research interests to make further exploration.