It is hard to underestimate the evocative power of music. Robert Schumann initially thought of naming his Symphony in E flat, Op.97 "Episode of a life on the banks of the Rhine". Isaac Albéniz added to his work Iberia the subheading "Twelve New “Impressions”", calling them Triana, El Albaicín, Rondeña, Málaga,… At that time, the German composer was in full creative swing, the last before his tragic end, and had just settled into a new home to hold his new position as musical director at Düsseldorf. The Spanish musician had been living in France for more than a decade at this point and seemed to remember his place of origin with a certain melancholy touch, probably suspecting he would never return.

Both Schumann and Albéniz are considered uncontested masters of the piano and especially of character pieces, able to condense in their brevity and light touch a whole world of suggestions. The Navarra and Iberia impressions are perfect examples of this, and there are those who have pointed to there being the same spirit of Schumann’s piano scenes in the central movements of the “Rhenish” symphony.

These praises of Schumann and Albéniz have traditionally gone hand in hand with a comment, more or less incisive, regarding their skills as orchestrators. Arnold Schoenberg and many other authorised voices energetically urged for a fairer judgement of Schumann’s valuable orchestra music, as does Albéniz’s Merlín opera after its première at the Teatro Real. But even a century ago, the Catalan composer’s friends had little trust in his orchestral work. One of them, the violinist, teacher, composer and conductor Enrique Fernández Arbós, dazzled by the sounds of Iberia, decided to orchestrate some of its pieces. Albéniz had had the same intention but had given up on the project. Now Fernández Arbós the composeris primarily known for his brilliant orchestration of Iberia.

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