Aragón

In the 19th century, Spain re-discovered its own rich, and various musical traditions. Isaac Albéniz, the Catalonian, gained his inspiration evidently from these folkloristic sources, and his Suite Española (originally for piano) is probably the first testimony of this artistic renaissance of the iberic regional music heritage. The eight pieces of this youth composition (Albéniz was 20 years old) are dedicated to cities, and regions, as well as to popular dances or other evocating situations.

Aragón is characterized by the free repetition of never identical sections, some pertaining to the «jota» dance, and some related to two interspersing popular melodies. It was premiered by the composer himself on January 24, 1886.

Instrumentation: trumpet 1 in Bb + piccolo, trumpet 2 in Bb + flugelhorn, horn in F, euphonium, tuba