Pedro Albéniz y Basanta (14 April 179512 April 1855) was a Spanish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was unrelated to

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...

Life

Albéniz was born

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

. He began his studies with his father Mateo Albéniz, a notable church musician in Spain. He furthered his education in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he was instructed by eminent teachers and received musical advice from

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

. Returning to Spain in 1830, he served as

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

at the Church of Santa María in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

and then became a professor at the

Madrid Royal Conservatory The Madrid Royal Conservatory () is a music college in Madrid, Spain. History The Royal Conservatory of Music was founded on July 15, 1830, by royal decree, and was originally located in Mostenses Square, Madrid. In 1852 it was moved to the Roy ...

, organist of the Capilla Real, and the personal piano teacher of

Queen Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

. He died in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Later in life he neglected his career as a concert pianist and dedicated himself instead to teaching. He left behind many compositions for piano, chamber music and songs, but was subsequently remembered chiefly for his piano

method Method (, methodos, from μετά/meta "in pursuit or quest of" + ὁδός/hodos "a method, system; a way or manner" of doing, saying, etc.), literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In re ...

, which was studied by all Spanish pianists at the Madrid Conservatory during the mid-19th century.Iglesias, Antonio
"Albéniz y Basanta, Pedro."
''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', 2001. Retrieved on 21 April 2020.

Compositions

Works for concert band

* 1813 ''Himno - cantado en la ciudad de San Sebastián en obsequio a los Reyes N.N.S.S., dedicadoa sus Magestades'', for concert band and great mixed choir * 1833 ''Marcha e himno para la jura de la Princesa de Asturias'', representada por una comparsa de jóvenes de San Sebastián, for concert band * 1833 ''Marcha triunfal, himno y contradanzas de la comparsa alegórica al restablecimiento del Rey N.S. y administración benéfica de S.M. la Reina'', egecutada en San Sebastián con acuerdo de su ayuntamiento el domingo de carnaval de 1833, for concert band

Choral works

* 1841 ''Villancico real al nacimiento de N.S. Jesucristo'', for two soloists, two-voiced choir and piano * 1842 ''Villancico real al nacimiento de N.S. Jesucristo'', for soloist, unison children's choir and piano * 1844 ''Villancico real al nacimiento de N.S. Jesucristo'', for soloists, unison choir and piano * 1845 ''Villancico real al nacimiento de N.S. Jesucristo'', for soloists, mixed choir (STB) and piano

Works for piano

* 1825 ''Rondó brillante a la tirana sobre los temas del "Trípoli y la Cachucha"'', for piano, op. 25 * 1825 ''Variaciones brillantes sobre el "Himno de Riego"'', for piano, op. 28 * 1830 ''Serenata cantada a sos Reyes Nros. Sres. con motivo de su salida de la ciudad de San Sebastián'', for piano * 1831 ''Fantasía elegante sobre motivos escogidos de la ópera "I puritani" de

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...

'', for piano * 1831 ''Variaciones brillantes sobre el tema favorito Mira, oh Norma, ai tuoi ginocchi de

'', for piano, op. 33 * 1843 ''Contradanzas bailadas a presencia de S.S.M.M. por una comparsa de jóvenes distinguidos de San Sebastián'' * 1843 ''Vals no.4'', for piano * 1843 ''Vals no.5'', for piano * 1844 ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', fantasia on a themes from Verdi's opera for piano * 1852 ''Corona musical de canciones populares españolas'' * ''12 estudios melódicos para piano á cuatro manos compuestos espresamente icpara S.M. la Reina Doña Ysabel 2ª'', op. 56 * ''El chiste de Málaga - capricho'', música característica española, op.37 * ''El polo nuevo - capricho'', música característica española, for piano, op. 41 * ''Estudios para piano - antología (siglo XIX)'' * ''Fantasia sobre motivos de la ópera "Nabucco" de

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

'', for two pianos, op. 36 * ''Fantasía sobre motivos de la ópera "Attila" de

'', for piano four hands * ''Fantasía sobre motivos de la ópera "Ernani" de

'', for piano four hands * ''Fantasía sobre motivos de la ópera "I Lombardi" de

'', for piano four hands * ''Fantasía sobre motivos del "Nabucodonosor" de

'', for two pianos * ''Fantasía sobre un motivo vasco'', for piano * ''Flores melódicas'', for piano, op. 60 * ''La barquilla gaditana - capricho'', música característica española , op.39 * ''La gracia de Córdoba'' música característica española, for two pianos, op. 38 * ''Lied'', for piano, op. 53 * ''Los jardines de Aranjuez'', for two pianos * ''Mi Delicia'', for two pianos, op. 61 * ''Piezas características españolas'', for two pianos * ''Riojanos Ilustres'' * ''Rondino-capricho sobre motivos de "La Violeta"'', for piano, violin, viola, and cello, op. 65

Bibliography

* Santiago de Masarnau Fernández (1805-1882): ''Piano romántico español (Música impresa) Gemma Salas Villar''. Santiago de Masarnau en Pedro Albéniz, Madrid: Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, 1999. 297 p. * Antonio Gómez y Cros (1808–1863): ''Retrato de Pedro Albeniz Basanta''. Diana en el Estab. Artistico y Literario , ca. 1850.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albeniz, Pedro 1795 births 1855 deaths Spanish male classical composers Spanish Romantic composers Spanish classical pianists Spanish male classical pianists Spanish classical organists Spanish male classical organists Spanish music educators Piano educators Academic staff of the Madrid Royal Conservatory 19th-century Spanish classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century Spanish male musicians 19th-century organists