A long overdue revision of my earlier edition from 2018 has provided a splendid opportunity to rediscover this extraordinary creation from Albeniz’ last years — 12 nouvelles Impressions. They are thoroughly reexplored and published here in four volumes as first presented by the composer in 1906-8.
Messiaen never tired of pointing out to his disciples how he had come to appreciate dissonance after listening to Iberia, and to help understand how these clusters work, they are sometimes exchanged with acciaccaturas.
For early 20th century publishers, much of Iberia must have been an engraver’s nightmare. This edition therefore addresses the problem, by removing a minimum number of notes and suggesting alternative ways to perform this sublime, passionate and rewarding music. To clarify the text some adjustments have been made to non-essential counterpoint and unnecessary rests have been omitted. In a quest to remove challenging accidentals, a number of appropriate key signatures have been inserted.
Granados described the music of Albéniz as quite unique: “an elegance that smiles with sadness and progresses by degrees until it achieves a mastery both commanding and serene; like Goya’s Maja, Iberia evokes memories of our ‘golden century”. To have some idea of their worth, it is useful to read Debussy’s appreciation of Eritaña (book IV): “les yeux se ferment comme éblouis d’avoir contemplé trop d’images”.**
PIANO PRACTICAL EDITIONS 