The ''Sinfonía pirenaica'' (''Pyrenean Symphony''), inspired by the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, was composed by

Jesús Guridi Jesús Guridi Bidaola (25 September 1886 – 7 April 1961) was a Spanish Basque composer who was a key player in 20th-century Spanish and Basque music. His style fits into the late Romantic idiom, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a stron ...

in 1945 and premiered on 8 February 1946 in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

by the Bilbao Municipal Orchestra conducted by Jesús Arámbarri. Lasting c. 49 minutes, it consists of three movements: #''Andante sostenuto'' — ''Allegro molto moderato'' #''Presto ma non troppo'' #''Allegro brioso'' All three movements are based in the

Sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

, while the harmonic language reflects

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

through the use of altered thirds and sevenths in a major tonality. While it is an abstract symphony lacking a programme, it usually comes close to the tone of a

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

and it features descriptive effects.Booklet notes by Santiago Gorostiza for the Naxos release, 8.557631
/ref>

Recordings

* Bilbao Symphony —

Juanjo Mena Juanjo Mena (born Juan José Mena; born 21 September 1965) is a Spanish conductor. Biography Mena was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the Basque Country, where he began his music studies at the Vitoria-Gasteiz Conservatory. He later attended the ...

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

, 2003.

References

Compositions by Jesús Guridi 20th-century symphonies 1945 compositions {{symphony-stub