Pianophilia

Avanza el español !!
Querido Alfor:
con la esperanza...

Espadero: who sells or manufactures swords
Espada: sword

Saludos
careful with Spanish grammar: is a hell !

Dear lito valle,

at school I did not have a chance to study Spanish.
- And google translator is far from perfect!

saludos cordiales

alfor

I didn't study Spanish in school, either, Alfred! Fortunately, it is spoken all around me and I am studying hard. As the language is a little different here than in Spain, I am glad that I have a good teacher -- but have not yet come across "espadero" since around here everyone uses a machete.

fleubis wrote:One wonders if the two ever met. Seems probable. Esperado outlived Gottschalk by 21 years.

They did

From Grove:

Ruiz Espadero, Nicolás

(b Havana, 15 Feb 1832; d Havana, 30 Aug 1890). Cuban composer, pianist and teacher. He was born to a wealthy and cultured family, and was first taught music by his mother; it is claimed that he composed acceptable pieces from the age of three or four. He was later taught by Julian Fontana, Juan Miro and Fernando Arizti. In 1854 he met Gottschalk, whose performances helped gain recognition for his works, and with whom he established a long-lasting friendship. Ruiz Espadero was also active as a pianist, choir director and concert promoter. His compositions became well known in Spain and Cuba, and he was also recognized as a teacher; among his pupils were Gaspar Villate and Ignacio Cervantes. He transcribed and edited a number of Gottschalk’s works, contributing a foreword (dated 1872) in which he explained some of the stylistic and aesthetic theories he had shared with Gottschalk, and their support of nationalistic expression in music.

Ruiz Espadero’s music is in Romantic style and shows some nationalistic influences. Tieles Ferrer (1994) points out that his compositions are divided between those of national character and those of more European style. Among the nationalistic works are those based on Creole rhythms or melodies, such as the Canto del guajiro op.61 (1874) for piano; those modelled on romantic Cuban songs, including the Barcarolle op.18 (1850) and the Scherzo op.58 (1866), both for piano; and those based on nationalistic Cuban songs, such as the Canto del esclavo op.21 (1856) and Melodía (1859). He also wrote symphonies, including Sur la tombe de Gottschalk op.68 (1870), chamber music, songs and many short piano pieces. His works were published in Cuba, Spain, France, the USA and Germany.
______________________________________________

He also did an arrangement of Gottschalk's Grand Tarantelle, Op.67 which I'm including here. NMS and Bucket-edited, with apologies to Alfor Regards
Fred

Dear Fred, Thank you very much for the bio infos on Espadero and his relationship to Gottschalk. Espadero gives quite a nice tribute to Gottschalk in that preface. The Grand Tarantelle is easily the longest dance in that genre I've ever encountered--most seem to be over all too quickly, but here Espadero has given us an excellent transcription that holds together quite well. These two composers are well met, indeed!

Thank you, Fred.

fleubis wrote:The Grand Tarantelle is easily the longest dance in that genre I've ever encountered

That's why it's called Grand. If it were any shorter, it would be called Baby Grand...

Regards
Fred

What's very strange about Espadero is his later life and the way he died!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A ... _1880-1890

4candles wrote:What's very strange about Espadero is his later life and the way he died!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A ... _1880-1890

Wow! Strange hardly covers it, and we know that excessive-compulsive disorder often has a lot of unfortunate outcomes, but his death is quite bizarre. And the oh-so-familiar story of lost scores.

Thank you for the big spider and more info on Espadero.
(Please note: too much alcohol is no good...whether inwardly or outwardly... )

This spider has got a lot of subspecies:

From a youtube posting:

„In 1859 Gottschalk performed an improvised tarantella with pianist Nicolás Ruiz Espadero and violinist José White at the Liceo Artístico y Literario in Havana. That extemporization would evolve over the years until it reached it's final form for piano and orchestra as the Grande Tarantelle, (Op 67) and during the last year of his life, it became Gottschalk's workhorse. When the composer died without leaving a score for this piece, more than twenty different versions have surfaced, most of which are apocryphal. Recently though, Gottschalk's manuscript has been discovered and can be heard in a recording by Richard Rosenberg on the Naxos label.

To learn more about Gottschalk visit -
http://www.gottschalk-pianist.com“

nms (alfor-edited)

Also www.gottschalk.fr

Regards
Fred