Emmanuel Chabrier España
Emmanuel Chabrier España Program Notes
French composer Emmanuel Chabrier settled down to a career working as a public servant, working for 18 years as a legal official for the Ministry of the Interior. He had a lifelong love of music, and actually began piano lessons with a Spaniard at the age of six. He dabbled in music, composing a couple of operettas and other small pieces, while maintaining friendships with musical and artistic types, including the poet Paul Verlaine, painter Eduard Manet and the composer Gabriel Fauré. But it was a performance, in Germany, of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, which led him to quit the Ministry shortly before his 40th birthday and become a full-time musician. Four years later, in 1883, he published his most popular work, a Spanish- themed rhapsody, called España (or Spain). It captures the bright colors and energy of Spanish culture and dance, with vigorous and singable melodic material and percussion (including cymbals and the tambourine). An episode in the middle seems to evoke the midday heat (a welcome thought in February), before winding up towards its rousing end. Born: January 18, 1841; Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, France Died: September 13, 1894; Paris, France
España is a dazzling orchestral rhapsody by French composer Emmanuel Chabrier, inspired by a trip he made to Spain in 1882 and 1883. It is a brilliantly colorful and rhythmically infectious portrait of Spanish dance and festivity.
Chabrier composed España in 1883 after returning from Spain, and it was premiered in Paris on November 4, 1883, conducted by Charles Lamoureux, causing an immediate sensation.
A typical performance lasts approximately 6 to 7 minutes.
Listen for the irresistible rhythmic energy that runs through the entire piece — it is almost impossible to keep still. Chabrier piles on vivid orchestral color with tremendous wit and confidence, climaxing in a finale of pure exhilaration.
Chabrier was largely self-taught as a composer and worked for many years as a civil servant before devoting himself to music full time. España made him famous overnight and influenced a generation of composers including Ravel, Debussy, and the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz.
