Spanish Rhapsody

in #music5 years ago

España is a colorful and energetic rhapsody on traditional Spanish music, composed in 1883 by the French composer Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894). Chabrier and his wife toured Spain for 5 months in 1882, from July to November, enthusiastically exploring the central and southern regions of the country. Chabrier was fascinated and inspired by everything he saw and heard there, taking careful notes of traditional Spanish melodies and rhythms from each locality. He wrote a multitude of letters to friends recording his impressions during his travels. These letters detail his studies of regional styles and dance forms, and provide extensive notated examples. Besides being intoxicated with Spanish music, Chabrier was also enraptured with Spanish women. He write in one letter, "Since coming to Andalusia I haven't seen a really ugly woman... I won't let on what these women display, but they display it beautifully." In another, he comments on the dancers which commonly accompanied musical performances in cafes. "If you could see them wiggle, unjoin their hips, contort, I believe you would not want to get away! At Malaga I was compelled to take my wife away..." This sensuality would become a key element of España, in which Chabrier combined the Spanish music he heard with his own French compositional style. Upon his return to Paris, he vowed to a friend that he would write a Spanish-themed piece that "will arouse the whole orchestra to a feverish pitch of excitement; and you too will feel obliged to hold [your assistant] in your arms, so voluptuous will be my melodies."

Emmanuel_Chabrier.jpgWkikimedia Commons

The piece propelled Chabrier to stardom and established him as a serious composer. España was well received not only by the public, but also by critics and other composers. De Falla praised it for its authenticity, while Ravel's claim that "all of contemporary French music stems from [Chabrier's] work" is echoed by Mahler's statement that España was "the start of modern music." In response to such praise, Chabrier humbly characterized the work as "a piece in F and nothing more."
The piece inspired many other French composers to produce Spanish-styled music, including Debussy and Ravel. Stravinsky is thought to have borrowed from the central trombone theme in his 1911 work, Petrushka. The main melody was even borrowed for a 1950's American pop song called Hot-Diggity. Though Chabrier's work is not as universally revered in Spain as in other countries, "for the outsider, it remains a perfect description of 19th-century Spain, as captivating as the subtle pastels of the Impressionists who shared Chabrier's perspective on the world."

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Very interesting! I feel like we might have played this song in band when I was in high school. If not in whole at least some parts of it. I had never really put together the relation between this song and the other one before. I was on a pretty big "Big Band" kick at one point in my life, so I am quite familiar with Hot Diggity I think I still have a version of it on one of my Glenn Miller CD's. Nice post with some awesome music!

Women have been inspiring musicians since time began.

This part is pretty funny:

"If you could see them wiggle, unjoin their hips, contort, I believe you would not want to get away!"

Lol

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