Symphonie Espagnole, Opus 21

The Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra, perhaps Lalo's best-known composition, is found in the repertoire of violinists everywhere. The première on 7 February 1875 was greeted by storms of applause from the Parisian audience and marked Lalo's breakthrough. He wrote the work for his friend Pablo de Sarasate, who played it at his concerts and quickly made it known throughout Europe. This edition is the first to make use of Lalo's autograph manuscripts. - Publisher. This concerto-like work is one of the favorite large-scale violin works of the Romantic era. Its colorful Spanish quality and its flowing, attractive melodies, along with its copious display of violin tricks, have kept it before a public that has largely forgotten the other works of its composer. Stimulated by Pablo de Sarasate's playing of his First Violin Concerto in 1874, Lalo decided to write another concerto, this time paying tribute to Sarasate's Spanish nationality and his own Spanish descent. Lalo tailor-made the new Symphonie Espagnole to fit Sarasate's playing style, which was innovative for stressing a bright, light attack rather than the powerhouse style that had characterized earlier violinists. It is likely that Sarasate collaborated with Lalo in the details of the violin part, for it features the singing line and effervescent arpeggio and scale work that was a trademark of his playing and which are featured in Sarasate's own recital music. Sarasate played it for the first time in Paris on February 7, 1875. It immediately pleased the audience, and happened to hit in the middle of a vogue for Spanish music recently touched off by Bizet's opera Carmen. It has frequently been said that it is not a concerto or a symphony at all, although it does have elements of symphonic form. It is really a suite, whose five movements add up to the dimensions of a symphony, about 30 minutes. - Joseph Stevenson at allmusic.com