Pablo de Sarasate, the violinist who premiered these works, considered himself more French than Spanish after moving to Paris at age seventeen, which shocked his Spanish compatriots.
Composition History
Lalo's Symphonie espagnole was the first piece with a Spanish character composed in France, predating Bizet's Carmen, Chabrier's España, Debussy's Iberia, and Ravel's Rhapsodie espagnole.
Composer Biography
Édouard Lalo, the composer, had abandoned composition in 1855 to play second violin and viola in the Armingaud Quartet, only resuming it around 1873.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Lalo defended the title Symphonie espagnole, explaining that it conveyed his idea of a violin soaring above the rigid form of an old-fashioned symphony, and was less banal than other suggested titles.
Composition History
This album features three of the four concertante works by Édouard Lalo for violin and orchestra, all of which were premiered by the violinist Pablo de Sarasate.
Compositional Technique
The Symphonie espagnole is neither a symphony nor a concerto, but rather a five-movement suite where the soloist and orchestra converse as equal partners.
Historical Context
Pablo de Sarasate was the first great violinist to immortalize his playing through nine recordings made in 1904, four years before his death.
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