Isaac

Isaac Albéniz Pasqual

Camprodon , 29 May 1860
Cambo-les Bains , 18 May 1909

Composer and Performer

Pianist and Composer

He started piano lessons with Narcís Oliveras. At about four years of age he debuted at Teatre Romea. In 1879, thanks to count Guillermo Morphy (secretary to King Alfonso XII), he obtained a royal grant to attend the Royal Conservatory of Brussels where he was awarded the first prize. He toured around Europe emulating F. Liszt and returned to Barcelona in 1883, where he studied composition under F. Pedrell. From 1890 to 1909 he travelled between Barcelona, London and Paris. During this period, he briefly taught at the Schola Cantorum (Paris, 1898-1900) where he was in contact with composers such as V. D’Indy, P. Dukas and G. Fauré, and had Déodat de Severac as a student.

Although he composed significant lyrical works (The magic Opal, 1893, Henry Clifford,1895, Pepita Jiménez, 1896, and Merlin, 1902) he is well known for his piano music and particularly for Iberia (1900), which is considered a central piece of the pianistic repertoire