Isaac
Isaac digging for the wells, imagined in a Bible illustration (c. 1900)
Prophet, Seer, Second Hebrew Patriarch, Father of Israel, Holy Forefather
Born	Canaan
Died	Canaan
Honored in	Judaism Christianity Islam
Major shrine	Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron
Influences	His father Abraham
Influenced	Jacob, the Twelve Tribes of Israel as well as many Jews, Christians and Muslims

Isaac ( /�?aɪzək/;^[1] Hebrew: יִצְחָק, Modern Yitsẖak Tiberian Yiṣḥ�?q, ISO 259-3 Yiçḥaq, "he will laugh"; Yiddish: יצחק, Yitskhok; Ancient Greek: Ἰ�?αάκ, Isaak; Latin: Isaac; Arabic: إسحاق‎ or Arabic: إسحٰق‎^{[note A]} ʼIsḥ�?q) as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites. According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was beyond childbearing years.

Isaac was the only biblical patriarch whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not leave Canaan. Compared to those of Abraham and Jacob, Isaac's story relates fewer incidents of his life. He died when he was 180 years old, making him the longest-lived patriarch.

Etymology[link]

The anglicized name Isaac is a transliteration of the Hebrew term Yiṣḥ�?q which literally means "He laughs/will laugh."^[2] Ugaritic texts dating from the 13th century BCE refer to the benevolent smile of the Canaanite deity El.^[3] Genesis, however, ascribes the laughter to Isaac's parents, Abraham and Sarah, rather than El. According to the biblical narrative, Abraham fell on his face and laughed when Elohim imparted the news of their son's eventual birth. He laughed because Sarah was past the age of childbearing; both she and Abraham were advanced in age. Later, when Sarah overheard three messengers of the Lord renew the promise, she laughed inwardly for the same reason. Sarah denied laughing when Elohim questioned Abraham about it.^[4][5][6]

Isaac in Genesis[link]

The account of Isaac from the Book of Genesis

Isaac is mentioned by name 80 times in Genesis.

Birth of Isaac[link]

An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac, Rembrandt, 1634

It was prophesied to the patriarch Abraham that he would have a son and that his name should be called Isaac. When Abraham became one hundred years old, this son was born to him by his first wife Sarah.^[7] Though this was Abraham's second son^[8] it was Sarah’s first and only child.

On the eighth day from his birth, Isaac was circumcised, as was necessary for all males of Abraham's household, in order to be in compliance with Yahweh's covenant.^[9]

After Isaac had been weaned, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking, and urged her husband to banish Hagar and Ishmael so that Isaac would be Abraham's only heir. Abraham was hesitant, but at God's order he listened to his wife's request.^[10]

Binding of Isaac[link]

At some point in Isaac's youth, his father Abraham brought him to mount Moriah. At Yahweh's command to Abraham, he was to build a sacrificial altar and sacrifice his son Isaac upon it. After binding his son to the altar and drawing his knife to kill him, in the very last moment an angel of Yahweh prevented Abraham from proceeding. Rather, he was directed to sacrifice a nearby ram instead. This event served as a test of Abraham's faith to Yahweh, not as an actual human sacrifice.^[11]

The birth of Esau and Jacob, as painted by Benjamin West

Family life[link]

When Isaac was 40, Abraham sent Eliezer, his steward, into Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac, from his nephew Bethuel's family. Eliezer chose Rebekah for Isaac. After many years of marriage to Isaac, Rebekah had still not given birth to a child and was believed to be barren. Isaac prayed for her and she conceived. Rebekah gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when his two sons were born. Isaac favored Esau, and Rebekah favored Jacob.^[12]

Occupation[link]

Around the age of 75, Isaac moved to Beer-lahai-roi after his father died.^[13] When the land experienced famine, he removed to the Philistine land of Gerar where his father once lived. This land was still under the control of King Abimelech as it was in the days of Abraham. Like his father, Isaac also deceived Abimelech about his wife and also got into the well business. He had gone back to all of the wells that his father dug and saw that they were all stopped up with earth. The Philistines did this after Abraham died. So, Isaac unearthed them and began to dig for more wells all the way to Beersheba, where he made a pact with Abimelech, just like in the day of his father.^[14]

Isaac blessing his son,as painted by Giotto di Bondone

Birthright[link]

Isaac grew old and became blind. He called his son Esau and directed him to procure some venison for him, in order to receive Isaac's blessing. While Esau was hunting, Jacob, after listening to his mother's advice, deceived his blind father by misrepresenting himself as Esau and thereby obtained his father's blessing, such that Jacob became Isaac's primary heir and Esau was left in an inferior position. Isaac sent Jacob into Mesopotamia to take a wife of his own family. After 20 years working for Laban, Jacob returned home, and reconciled with his twin brother Esau, then he and Esau buried their father when Isaac died at the age of 180.^[15][16]

Other references[link]

New Testament[link]

In the New Testament, there are references to Isaac having been "offered up" by his father, and to his blessing his sons.^[17] Paul contrasted Isaac, symbolizing Christian liberty, with the rejected older son Ishmael, symbolizing slavery;^[3][18] Hagar is associated with the Sinai covenant, while Sarah is associated with the covenant of grace, into which her son Isaac enters.The Epistle of James chapter 2, verses 21-24^[19] states that the sacrifice of Isaac shows that justification (in the Johannine sense) requires both faith and works.^[20]

In the early Christian church, Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice Isaac was used as an example of faith^[21] and of obedience.^[22][23] The Epistle to the Hebrews chapter 11, verse 19^[24] views the release of Isaac from sacrifice as analogous to the resurrection of Jesus, the idea of the sacrifice of Isaac being a prefigure of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Qur'an[link]

Like many of the biblical Hebrew patriarchs and prophets, the Qur'an mentions Isaac as a righteous man of God. Isaac (and Jacob) are mentioned as being bestowed upon Abraham as gifts of God, who then worshipped God only and were righteous leaders in the way of God:

And We bestowed on him Isaac and, as an additional gift, (a grandson), Jacob, and We made righteous men of every one (of them).
And We made them leaders, guiding (men) by Our Command, and We sent them inspiration to do good deeds, to establish regular prayers, and to practise regular charity; and they constantly served Us (and Us only).

—Qur'an, sura 21 (Al-Anbiya), ayah 72-73^[25]

Testament of Isaac[link]

The Testament of Isaac is a pseudonymous text which was most likely composed in Greek in Egypt after 100 CE. It is also dependent on the Testament of Abraham. In this testament, God sends the archangel Michael to Isaac in order to inform him of his impending death. Isaac accepts God's decree but Jacob resists. Isaac in his bed-chamber tells Jacob of the inevitability of death. Isaac has a tour of heaven and hell shortly before his death in which God's compassion to repentant sinners is emphasized. In this testament, Isaac also talks with the crowds on the subjects of priesthood, asceticism, and the moral life.^[26]

World views[link]

Isaac embraces his father Abraham after the Binding of Isaac, early 1900s Bible illustration

The early Christian church viewed Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice Isaac as an example of faith and obedience. For Christians, Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son is a "type and shadow" of God's willingness to sacrifice his only son, Jesus.

Islam considers Isaac as a prophet of Islam, and describes him as the father of the Israelites and a righteous servant of God.

Documentary hypothesis[link]

The name Isaac occurs 32 times in the Hebrew Bible.^[2] Variations of the formula "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" occur 23 times in the Hebrew Bible.^[26] According to the documentary hypothesis, use of names of God indicates authorship, and form critics variously assign passages like Genesis chapter 26, verses 6-11^[27] to the Yahwist source, and Genesis chapter 20 verses 1-7, chapter 21, verse 1 to chapter 22, verse 14 and chapter 22, verse 19^[28] to the Elohist source; this source-critical approach has admitted problems, in that the name "Yahweh" appears in Elohist material.^[29] According to the compilation hypothesis, the formulaic use of the word toledoth (generations) indicates that Genesis chapter 11, verse 27 to chapter 25, verse 19^[30] is Isaac's record through Abraham's death (with Ishmael's record appended), and Genesis chapter 25, verse 19 to chapter 37, verse 2^[31] is Jacob's record through Isaac's death (with Esau's records appended).^[32]

Jewish views[link]

Isaac Blessing Jacob, painting by Govert Flinck (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)

In rabbinical tradition the age of Isaac at the time of binding is taken to be 37 which contrasts with common portrayals of Isaac as a child.^[33] The rabbis also thought that the reason for the death of Sarah was the news of the intended sacrifice of Isaac.^[33] The sacrifice of Isaac is cited in appeals for the mercy of God in later Jewish traditions.^[23] The post-biblical Jewish interpretations often elaborate the role of Isaac beyond the biblical description and largely focus on Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac, called the aqedah ("binding").^[3] According to a version of these interpretations, Isaac died in the sacrifice and was revived.^[3] According to many accounts of Aggadah, unlike the Bible, it is Satan who is testing Isaac and not God.^[34] Isaac's willingness to follow God's command at the cost of his death has been a model for many Jews who preferred martyrdom to violation of the Jewish law.^[33]

According to the Jewish tradition Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer. This tradition is based on Genesis chapter 24, verse 63^[35] ("Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide").^[33]

Isaac was the only patriarch who stayed in Canaan during his whole life and though once he tried to leave, God told him not to do so.^[36] Rabbinic tradition gave the explanation that Isaac was almost sacrificed and anything dedicated as a sacrifice may not leave the Land of Israel.^[33] Isaac was the oldest of the biblical patriarchs at the time of his death, and the only patriarch whose name was not changed.^[3][17]

Rabbinic literature also linked Isaac's blindness in old age, as stated in the Bible, to the sacrificial binding: Isaac's eyes went blind because the tears of angels present at the time of his sacrifice fell on Isaac's eyes.^[34]

Islamic views[link]

Isaac (Arabic: إسحاق‎‎^{[note A]} ʾIsḥ�?q) is revered by Muslims to be a prophet and the patriarch of Islam. Isaac, along with Ishmael, is highly important for Muslims for continuing to preach the message of monotheism after his father Abraham. Among Isaac's children was the follow-up Israelite patriarch Jacob, who too is venerated an Islamic prophet.

Isaac is mentioned fifteen times by name in the Qur'an, often with his father and his son, Jacob.^[37] The Qur'an states that Abraham received "good tidings of Isaac, a prophet, of the righteous", and that God blessed them both (XXXVII: 12). In a fuller description, when angels came to Abraham to tell him of the future punishment to be imposed on Sodom and Gomorrah, his wife, Sarah, "laughed, and We gave her good tidings of Isaac, and after Isaac of (a grandson) Jacob" (XI: 71-74); and it is further explained that this event will take place despite Abraham and Sarah's old age. Several verses speak of Isaac as a "gift" to Abraham (VI: 84; XIX: 49-50), and XXIX: 26-27 adds that God made "prophethood and the Book to be among his offspring", which has been interpreted to refer to Abraham's two prophetic sons, his prophetic grandson Jacob, and his prophetic great-grandson Joseph. In the Qur'an, it later narrates that Abraham also praised God for giving him Ishmael and Isaac in his old age (XIV: 39-41).

Elsewhere in the Qur'an, Isaac is mentioned in lists: Joseph follows the religion of his forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (XII: 38) and speaks of God's favor to them (XII: 6); Jacob's sons all testify their faith and promise to worship the God that their forefathers, "Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac", worshiped (II: 127); and the Qur'an commands Muslims to believe in the revelations that were given to "Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Patriarchs" (II: 136; III: 84). In the Qur'an's narrative of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son (XXXVII: 102), the name of the son is not mentioned and debate has continued over the son's identity, though many feel that the identity is the least important element in a story which is given to show the courage that one develops through faith.^[38]

Western scholarly views[link]

Some scholars have described Isaac as "a legendary figure" while others view him "as a figure representing tribal history, though as a historical individual" or "as a seminomadic leader."^[39]

The stories of Isaac, like other patriarchal stories of Genesis, are generally believed in liberal Western scholarship to have "their origin in folk memories and oral traditions of the early Hebrew pastoralist experience."^[40] Conservative Western scholarship believes the stories of Isaac, and other patriarchal stories in Genesis, to be factual. The Cambridge Companion to the Bible makes the following comment on the biblical stories of the patriarchs:

Yet for all that these stories maintain a distance between their world and that of their time of literary growth and composition, they reflect the political realities of the later periods. Many of the narratives deal with the relationship between the ancestors and peoples who were part of Israel’s political world at the time the stories began to be written down (eighth century B.C.E.). Lot is the ancestor of the Transjordanian peoples of Ammon and Moab, and Ishmael personifies the nomadic peoples known to have inhabited north Arabia, although located in the Old Testament in the Negev. Esau personifies Edom (36:1), and Laban represents the Aramean states to Israel’s north. A persistent theme is that of difference between the ancestors and the indigenous Canaanites… In fact, the theme of the differences between Judah and Israel, as personified by the ancestors, and the neighboring peoples of the time of the monarchy is pressed effectively into theological service to articulate the choosing by God of Judah and Israel to bring blessing to all peoples.”^[41]

According to Martin Noth, a scholar of the Hebrew Bible, the narratives of Isaac date back to an older cultural stage than that of the West-Jordanian Jacob.^[39] At that era, the Israelite tribes were not yet sedentary. In the course of looking for grazing areas, they had come in contact in southern Palestine with the inhabitants of the settled countryside.^[39] The biblical historian, A. Jopsen, believes in the connection between the Isaac traditions and the north, and in support of this theory adduces Amos 7:9 ("the high places of Isaac").^[39]

Albrecht Alt and Martin Noth hold that, "The figure of Isaac was enhanced when the theme of promise, previously bound to the cults of the 'God the Fathers' was incorporated into the Israelite creed during the southern-Palestinian stage of the growth of the Pentateuch tradition."^[39] According to Martin Noth, at the Southern Palestinian stage of the growth of the Pentateuch tradition, Isaac became established as one of the biblical patriarchs, but his traditions were receded in the favor of Abraham.^[39]

In art[link]

The earliest Christian portrayal of Isaac is found in the Roman catacomb frescoes.^[42] Excluding the fragments, Alison Moore Smith classifies these artistic works in three categories:

"Abraham leads Isaac towards the altar; or Isaac approaches with the bundle of sticks, Abraham having preceded him to the place of offering .... Abraham is upon a pedestal and Isaac stands near at hand, both figures in orant attitude .... Abraham is shown about to sacrifice Isaac while the latter stands or kneels on the ground beside the altar. Sometimes Abraham grasps Isaac by the hair. Occasionally the ram is added to the scene and in the later paintings the Hand of God emerges from above."^[42]

See also[link]

• Biblical narratives and the Qur'an

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Browning, W.R.F (1996). A dictionary of the Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-211691-6. 
• Paul Lagasse, Lora Goldman, Archie Hobson, Susan R. Norton, ed. (2000). The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.). Gale Group. ISBN 978-1-59339-236-9. 
• P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, ed. Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912. 
• Erwin Fahlbusch, William Geoffrey Bromiley, ed. (2001). Encyclopedia of Christianity (1st ed.). Eerdmans Publishing Company, and Brill. ISBN 0-8028-2414-5. 
• John Bowden, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of Christianity (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-522393-4. 
• The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated; Rev Ed edition. 2005. ISBN 978-1-59339-236-9. 
• Jane Dammen McAuliffe, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-12356-4. 
• Geoffrey Wigoder, ed. (2002). The New Encyclopedia of Judaism (2nd ed.). New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-9388-6. 
• Lindsay Jones, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference Books. ISBN 978-0-02-865733-2. 
• David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, Astrid B. Beck, ed. (2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (1st ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-2400-4. 

External links[link]

• Isaac in Jewish Encyclopedia
• Abraham's son as the intended sacrifice (Al-Dhabih, Qur'an 37:99, Qur'an 37:99–113): Issues in qur'anic exegesis, journal of Semitic Studies XXX1V/ Spring 1989

Media related to Isaac at Wikimedia Commons

•  "Isaac". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Isaac". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Isaac Albéniz at the piano, 1901

Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (Spanish pronunciation: [i�?sak al�?βeniθ]) (29 May 1860, Camprodon – 18 May 1909, Cambo-les-Bains) was a Spanish pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms. However, many of his works have been transcribed by Miguel Llobet and others for guitar, and many of his pieces such as Asturias (Leyenda), Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, Cordoba, Cataluña, and the Tango in D are amongst the most important pieces for classical guitar.

Life[link]

Albéniz with his daughter, Laura

Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to �?ngel Albéniz (a customs official) and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz was a child prodigy who first performed at the age of four. At age seven, after apparently taking lessons from Antoine François Marmontel, he passed the entrance examination for piano at the Paris Conservatoire, but he was refused admission because he was believed to be too young.^[1]

His concert career began at the young age of nine when his father toured both Isaac and his sister, Clementina, throughout northern Spain. By the time he had reached 12, he had made many attempts to run away from home. A popular myth is that at the age of 12 Albéniz stowed away in a ship bound for Buenos Aires. He then made his way via Cuba to the United States, giving concerts in New York and San Francisco and then travelled to Liverpool, London and Leipzig.^[2] By age 15, he had already given concerts worldwide. This over-dramatized story is not entirely true. Albéniz did travel the world as a performer, however he was accompanied by his father. As a customs agent he was required to travel frequently. After a juxtaposition of Isaac's concert dates, on his alleged adventure, and his father's travel itinerary it is apparent that they were traveling together. After a short stay at the Leipzig Conservatory, in 1876 he went to study at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels after King Alonso's personal secretary, Guillermo Morphy obtained him a royal grant.^[3] Count Morphy was highly praising of Albéniz, and Albéniz would later dedicate Sevilla to Morphy's wife when he premiered it in Paris in January 1886.^[3] In 1880, he went to Budapest to study with Franz Liszt, only to find out that Liszt was in Weimar, Germany.

In 1883, he met the teacher and composer Felip Pedrell, who inspired him to write Spanish music such as the Chants d'Espagne. The first movement (Prelude) of that suite, later retitled after the composer's death as Asturias (Leyenda), is probably most famous today as part of the classical guitar repertoire, even though it was originally composed for piano and only later transcribed. (Many of Albéniz's other compositions were also transcribed for guitar, notably by Francisco Tárrega). At the 1888 Universal Exposition in Barcelona, the piano manufacturer Erard sponsored a series of 20 concerts featuring Albéniz's music.^[1]

The apex of his concert career is considered to be 1889 to 1892 when he had concert tours throughout Europe. During the 1890s Albéniz lived in London and Paris. For London he wrote some musical comedies which brought him to the attention of the wealthy Francis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer. Money-Coutts commissioned and provided him with librettos for the opera Henry Clifford and for a projected trilogy of Arthurian operas. The first of these, Merlin (1898–1902) was thought to have been lost, but has recently been reconstructed and performed;.^[4] Albéniz never completed Lancelot (only the first act is finished, as a vocal and piano score), and he never began Guinevere, the final part.^[5]

In 1900 he started to suffer from Bright's disease and returned to writing piano music. Between 1905 and 1908 he composed his final masterpiece, Iberia (1908), a suite of twelve piano "impressions".

In 1883, the composer married his student Rosina Jordana. They had three children, Blanca (who died in 1886), Laura (a painter), and Alfonso (who played for Real Madrid in the early 1900s before embarking on a career as a diplomat). Two other children died in infancy.

Albéniz died on 18 May 1909 at age 48 in Cambo-les-Bains of Bright's disease, and is buried at the Montjuïc Cemetery, Barcelona.

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, former mayor of Madrid, and Cécilia Attias, the former wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, are two of Isaac Albéniz's great-grandchildren.

Work[link]

Early works[link]

Albéniz's early works were mostly “salon style” music. Albéniz's first published composition, Marcha Militar, appeared in 1868 -a number of works written before this are now lost.^[6] He continued composing in traditional styles ranging from Rameau, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt until the mid-1880s. He also wrote at least five zarzuelas, of which all but two are now lost.

Middle period – Spanish influences[link]

During the late 1880s, the strong influence of Spanish style is evident in Albéniz's music. In 1883 Isaac Albéniz met the teacher and composer Felipe Pedrell. Pedrell was a leading figure in the development of nationalist Spanish music. Gilbert Chase, in his book The Music of Spain, describes Pedrell’s influence on Albéniz: “What Albéniz derived from Pedrell was above all a spiritual orientation, the realization of the wonderful values inherent in Spanish music"^{[page needed]}. Felipe Pedrell inspired Isaac Albéniz to write Spanish music such as the Suite española, Op. 47 noted for its delicate, intricate melody and abrupt dynamic changes.

In addition to the Spanish spirit infused in Albéniz’s music, he incorporated other qualities as well. In Pola Baytleman’s biography on Albéniz, she discerns four characteristics of the music from the middle period as follows:

“1. The dance rhythms of Spain, of which there are a wide variety. 2. The use of cante jondo, which means deep or profound singing. It is the most serious and moving variety of flamenco or Spanish gypsy song, often dealing with themes of death, anguish, or religion. 3. The use of exotic scales also associated with flamenco music. The Phrygian mode is the most prominent in Albéniz’s music, although he also used the Aeolian and Mixolydian modes as well as the whole-tone scale. 4. The transfer of guitar idioms into piano writing".^{[page needed]}

Following his marriage Albéniz settled in Madrid and produced a quantity of music in a relatively short period.By 1886 he had written over 50 piano pieces.^[7] The Albéniz biographer, Walter A. Clark, says that pieces of this period received enthusiastic reception in the composer's many concerts. Chase describes music from this period,

“Taking the guitar as his instrumental model, and drawing his inspiration largely from the peculiar traits of Andalusian folk music – but without using actual folk themes – Albéniz achieves a stylization of Spanish traditional idioms that while thoroughly artistic, gives a captivating impression of spontaneous improvisation... Cordoba is the piece that best represents the style of Albéniz in this period, with its hauntingly beautiful melody, set against the acrid dissonances of the plucked accompaniment imitating the notes of the Moorish guslas. Here is the heady scent of jasmines amid the swaying palm tress, the dream fantasy of an Andalusian “Arabian Nights” in which Albéniz loved to let his imagination dwell.^{[page needed]}”

Later period[link]

While Albéniz's crowning achievement, Iberia, was written in the last years of his life in France, many of its preceding works are well-known and of great interest. The five pieces in Chants d'Espagne, (Songs of Spain, published in 1892) are a solid example of the compositional ideas he was exploring in the “middle period” of his life. The suite shows what Albéniz biographer Walter Aaron Clark describes as the “first flowering of his unique creative genius”^{[page needed]}, and the beginnings of compositional exploration that became the hallmark of his later works. This period also includes his operatic works – Merlin, Henry Clifford, and Pepita Jiménez. His orchestral works of this period include Spanish Rhapsody (1887) and Catalonia (1899).

Albéniz on his own music[link]

Perhaps the best source on the works is Albéniz himself. He is quoted as commenting on his earlier period works as,

“there are among them a few things that are not completely worthless. The music is a bit infantile, plain, spirited; but in the end, the people, our Spanish people, are something of all that. I believe that the people are right when they continue to be moved by Cordoba, Mallorca, by the copla of the Sevillanas, by the Serenata, and Granada. In all of them I now note that there is less musical science, less of the grand idea, but more color, sunlight, flavor of olives. That music of youth, with its little sins and absurdities that almost point out the sentimental affectation…appears to me like the carvings in the Alhambra, those peculiar arabesques that say nothing with their turns and shapes, but which are like the air, like the sun, like the blackbirds or like the nightingales of its gardens. They are more valuable than all else of Moorish Spain, which though we may not like it, is the true Spain.”^{[citation needed]}

Impact[link]

Albéniz’s influence on the future of Spanish music was profound. His activities as conductor, performer and composer significantly raised the profile of Spanish music abroad and encouraged Spanish music and musicians in his own country.^[1]

In transcription, Albéniz's works have become an important part of the repertoire of the classical guitar. Asturias (Leyenda) in particular is heard most often on the guitar, as are Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, Cataluña, Cordoba and the Tango in D. Gordon Crosskey and Cuban-born guitarist Manuel Barrueco have both made solo guitar arrangements of the full eight-movement Suite espanola. Selections from Iberia have rarely been attempted on solo guitar but have been very effectively performed by guitar ensembles, such as the performance by John Williams and Julian Bream of Iberia's opening "Evocation." The Doors incorporated "Asturias" into their song "Spanish Caravan"; also, Iron Maiden's To Tame a Land uses the introduction of the piece for the song bridge; and more recently, a guitar version of Granada functions as something of a love theme in Woody Allen's 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona

In 1997 the Fundación Isaac Albéniz was founded in his name to promote Spanish music and musicians and to act as a research centre for Albéniz and Spanish music in general.^[1]

In film[link]

A film, Albéniz, based on his life, was made in 1947. It was produced in Argentina.

List of selected works[link]

Opera

• The magic opal
• Henry Clifford
• Pepita Jiménez
• Merlin
• Lancelot (unfinished: 1st act complete)

Zarzuela

• Cuanto más viejo. Lost music.
• Catalanes de Gracia. Lost music.
• El canto de salvación. Lost music.
• San Antonio de la Florida.
• La real hembra.

Works for piano

• Tres suites antiguas (Three ancient suites) (1885–1886).
• Chants d'Espagne, Op.232
• Suite española, op. 47 (Spanish suite). With 8 pieces: Granada, Cataluña, Sevilla, Cádiz, Asturias, Aragón, Castilla and Cuba.
• Suite española, op. 97. 4 pieces: Zaragoza, Sevilla, Cadix-gaditana, and Zambra granadina (1883–1888) (1889).
• España, Op.165. 6 pieces: Preludio, Tango, Malagueña, Serenata, Capricho Catalán and Zortzico.
• Doce piezas características (Twelve characteristic pieces) (1888).
• Recuerdos de viaje (Travel memories), Op.71. 7 pieces: En el mar, Leyenda, Alborada, En la Alhambra, Puerta de Tierra, Rumores de la caleta, En la playa (1886–1887).
• Iberia. Suite for piano with 12 pieces in 4 books ("quaderns"):
  • 1º quadern: Evocación, El Puerto, El Corpus Christi en Sevilla.
  • 2º quadern: Rondeña, Almería, Triana.
  • 3º quadern: El Albaicín, El Polo, Lavapiés.
  • 4º quadern: Málaga, Jérez, Eritaña.
• La Vega.
• Navarra, finished by his pupil Déodat de Séverac.
• Azulejos, unfinished: finished by Enrique Granados
• Rapsodia española (Spanish rhapsody) (1887)

Other works

• Cristo, oratorio.
• 2 concertos for piano and orchestra: Concerto Fantastico, 1st, 1885–1887; 2nd concerto (1892), unfinished.
• Rapsodia española (Spanish rhapsody), for piano and orchestra (1887).
• Catalonia, symphonic poem (1899).

Symphonic versions of Iberia have been arranged by Enrique Fernández Arbós, Carlos Surinach, and Peter Breiner. There is a piano and orchestra version of Rapsodia española by Cristóbal Halffter.

Media[link]

	Suite española Op. 47 – 1. Granada (Serenata) Performed on a piano by Guillermo Gonzalez Courtesy of NAXOS Suite Española, Op. 47 – 5. Asturias (Leyenda) Performed on a guitar by Gordon Rowland.
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Bibliography[link]

• Isaac Albéniz, Chants d”Espagne, G. Henle Verlag, Berlin, 2004.
• Pola Baytelman, Isaac Albéniz: Chronological List and Thematic Catalog of His Piano Works, Harmonie Park Press, Michigan 1993.
• Frances Barulich. Albéniz, Isaac. In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://0-www.oxfordmusiconline.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/subscriber/article/grove/music/00421 (accessed 7 March 2010).
• Gilbert Chase, The Music of Spain, Dover Publications Inc. New York, 1959.
• Walter Aaron Clark, Isaac Albéniz: A Guide to Research, Garland Publishing Inc. New York & London, 1998.
• Walter Aaron Clark, Isaac Albéniz: Portrait of a Romantic, Oxford University Press, New York 1999.
• Daniel Ericourt and Robert. P. Erickson, MasterClasses in Spanish Piano Music, Hinshaw Music, Chapel Hill North Carolina, 1984.
• G. Jean-Aubry, “Isaac Albéniz 1860–1909,” The Musical Times, Vol 58 No. 898, Musical Times Publications Ltd., December 1917 pgs 535–538.
• Torres, Jacinto: "Las claves Madrileñas de Isaac Albéniz", Imprenta Artesanal de Madrid, 2009
• Torres, Jacinto: "Integral para voz y piano", TRITÓ Edicions, 1998

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Mallorca interactive hypermedia (Shockwave Player required) at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext
• The Life and Music of Isaac Albéniz
• Biography and List of Works by Albéniz
• Isaac Albéniz i Pascual
• Albéniz Foundation
• Albéniz Asturias arranged for Accordion

Articles[link]

• En torno a Isaac Albéniz y su "Iberia" by Antonio Iglesias, Antonio Fernández-Cid (ref)

Sheet music[link]

• Facsimiles (La Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes)
• Free scores by Isaac Albéniz at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Isaac Albéniz at the Werner Icking Music Archive
• Tango, arranged by Mischa Elman for violin and piano (from the Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection)

Photos of Albéniz[link]

• Photos (Gallica)

Recordings by Isaac Albéniz[link]

• Improvisación nº 1, Improvisación nº 2, Improvisación nº 3 (ref – La Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes)
• L'escola pianística catalana (Enregistraments històrics) (la mà de guido , LMG3060)
• The Catalan Piano Tradition (VAI Audio, 1001) OCLC 36488795 and 4914327
• Rollos de Pianola (Obras de Albéniz, Granados, Turina, Ocón, Chapí, Alonso y Otros) (Almaviva, DS – 0141) ASIN B000GI34D6