Rumores de la Caleta Op.71

Description

One of the pieces in Albéniz's collection Recuerdos de viaje (Travel Memories), Op. 71, subtitled Malagueña. La Caleta is a seaside district of Málaga, the Andalusian port, and the title means something like murmurs of La Caleta. The malagueña is a flamenco-related song and dance from the Málaga region, and from his early years Albéniz wrote many pieces carrying Spanish folk music from different regions over to the piano.

From the start, fast repeated figures that sound like a strummed guitar run on with sharp rhythms. In the middle the mood turns, and a freely shaped melody appears, like a singer drawing out a line, recalling the sung part of a malagueña. Setting a dance section against a song section and then bringing the dance figures back at the end is a pattern common in Albéniz's Spanish-style pieces.

It is rated advanced, with 1,428 notes in about four and a half minutes. The range runs from C2 to A6, so it fits on a 61-key keyboard, but it calls for a supple wrist to keep fine repeated notes and chord strokes sounding light. Take the fast passages at a slower playback speed first and use the A-B loop to even out the rhythm one short stretch at a time. In the middle section, ease the beat slightly instead, following the singer's line, and the two characters will stand apart clearly.

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