~~~~~Composer biography~~~~~ Nicolás Ruiz Espadero was a Cuban pianist, composer, and teacher from the Romantic era. Born in Havana in 1832, he first learned the piano from his mother, a pianist from Spain who frequently held concerts in the Espadero family home. Espadero later studied piano with Julian Fontana - a friend and pupil of Chopin - as well as the Cuban pianists José Miró y Anoria and Fernando Arizti. Despite having many of his compositions published abroad, Espadero never left Cuba. He worked primarily as a piano teacher, and his students included Ignacio Cervantes - a Cuban composer best known for his Danzas cubanas - and Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade, who founded the Peyrellade music conservatories in Cuba (from where the composers Ernesto Lecuona and Tania León graduated). In 1856, Espadero became the vice president of music at the Liceo Artístico y Literario de La Habana, an arts school in Havana. Espadero was known to be shy, reclusive, and neurotic. He rarely performed in public and lived alone with many cats. He died in 1890 from burns he received after a bath in alcohol. At least 68 of Espadero’s opuses were published in his lifetime. At the time of Espadero’s death, more manuscripts were in his home - including a piano trio and several etudes- but these manuscripts remain unpublished and are possibly lost. ~~~~~Program notes~~~~~ Sur la tombe de Gottschalk, Op. 68, is one of Espadero’s later published compositions. Espadero likely wrote it as an elegy for the American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who died in 1869 - just three years before Espadero completed the work. Gottschalk was a friend of Espadero’s and a composer devoted to writing music inspired by African-American, Louisiana Creole, and Afro-Cuban musical traditions. When Gottschalk died, Espadero also edited and published his remaining, unpublished compositions. Espadero was very particular about the interpretation of Sur la tombe de Gottschalk. In the preface to the score we used for this video, he provided an introduction detailing the importance of his performance indications and fingerings, as well as his desired interpretation of the work. You may find the text of this introduction here, along with an English translation: docs.google.com/document/d/17NeVyscSXJpLIw_Q_T_LM0MSAWRi1kF2vBXsl6Qj6q8/edit?usp=sharing Sur la tombe de Gottschalk begins in E-flat minor with a somber introduction, characterized by heavy chords. Here, Espadero begins to write names of instruments that the pianist should emulate, including the cello, bass, and timpani. At the end of the introduction, a line in octaves - reminiscent of a cello and bass soli - creates a feeling of suspense. In the next section of the work, Espadero introduces a melancholic melody with a steady eighth note accompaniment. The texture (melody and accompaniment) is reminiscent of some of Chopin’s more melancholic works, including his Prelude op. 28 no. 6 and Etude op. 25 no. 7. Save for the left hand’s imitating some fragments of the melody, Espadero keeps this texture through the entire section. In a section marked “Religioso,” a new, stately theme in E-flat major appears. Espadero repeats it with increased intensity, defined by full chords in the accompaniment. The following section, “Apothéose,” begins with a thunder-like flourish in the piano’s lowest register. The music has a despairing character, but gradually becomes more heroic and triumphant, culminating in a melody in dotted rhythms. The final section of Sur la tombe de Gottschalk is marked “Andante sostenuto” and reprises the somber, minor-key motifs of the introduction. Espadero ends the work with a tremolo from piano to fortissimo - a final emotional outburst that soon fades away. *Note: These program notes are the result of many hours of writing, editing, and researching. Please do not reproduce them without crediting us. Sources: 1. "Nicolás Ruiz Espadero." Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish). dbe.rah.es/biografias/70812/nicolas-ruiz-espadero 2. "Nicolás Ruiz Espadero." In Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Ruiz_Espadero 3. Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2007, 149. books.google.com/books?id=fZZ4QKZEumIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA149
~~~~~Composer biography~~~~~
Nicolás Ruiz Espadero was a Cuban pianist, composer, and teacher from the Romantic era. Born in Havana in 1832, he first learned the piano from his mother, a pianist from Spain who frequently held concerts in the Espadero family home. Espadero later studied piano with Julian Fontana - a friend and pupil of Chopin - as well as the Cuban pianists José Miró y Anoria and Fernando Arizti.
Despite having many of his compositions published abroad, Espadero never left Cuba. He worked primarily as a piano teacher, and his students included Ignacio Cervantes - a Cuban composer best known for his Danzas cubanas - and Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade, who founded the Peyrellade music conservatories in Cuba (from where the composers Ernesto Lecuona and Tania León graduated). In 1856, Espadero became the vice president of music at the Liceo Artístico y Literario de La Habana, an arts school in Havana.
Espadero was known to be shy, reclusive, and neurotic. He rarely performed in public and lived alone with many cats. He died in 1890 from burns he received after a bath in alcohol. At least 68 of Espadero’s opuses were published in his lifetime. At the time of Espadero’s death, more manuscripts were in his home - including a piano trio and several etudes- but these manuscripts remain unpublished and are possibly lost.
~~~~~Program notes~~~~~
Sur la tombe de Gottschalk, Op. 68, is one of Espadero’s later published compositions. Espadero likely wrote it as an elegy for the American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who died in 1869 - just three years before Espadero completed the work. Gottschalk was a friend of Espadero’s and a composer devoted to writing music inspired by African-American, Louisiana Creole, and Afro-Cuban musical traditions. When Gottschalk died, Espadero also edited and published his remaining, unpublished compositions.
Espadero was very particular about the interpretation of Sur la tombe de Gottschalk. In the preface to the score we used for this video, he provided an introduction detailing the importance of his performance indications and fingerings, as well as his desired interpretation of the work. You may find the text of this introduction here, along with an English translation:
docs.google.com/document/d/17NeVyscSXJpLIw_Q_T_LM0MSAWRi1kF2vBXsl6Qj6q8/edit?usp=sharing
Sur la tombe de Gottschalk begins in E-flat minor with a somber introduction, characterized by heavy chords. Here, Espadero begins to write names of instruments that the pianist should emulate, including the cello, bass, and timpani. At the end of the introduction, a line in octaves - reminiscent of a cello and bass soli - creates a feeling of suspense.
In the next section of the work, Espadero introduces a melancholic melody with a steady eighth note accompaniment. The texture (melody and accompaniment) is reminiscent of some of Chopin’s more melancholic works, including his Prelude op. 28 no. 6 and Etude op. 25 no. 7. Save for the left hand’s imitating some fragments of the melody, Espadero keeps this texture through the entire section.
In a section marked “Religioso,” a new, stately theme in E-flat major appears. Espadero repeats it with increased intensity, defined by full chords in the accompaniment. The following section, “Apothéose,” begins with a thunder-like flourish in the piano’s lowest register. The music has a despairing character, but gradually becomes more heroic and triumphant, culminating in a melody in dotted rhythms.
The final section of Sur la tombe de Gottschalk is marked “Andante sostenuto” and reprises the somber, minor-key motifs of the introduction. Espadero ends the work with a tremolo from piano to fortissimo - a final emotional outburst that soon fades away.
*Note: These program notes are the result of many hours of writing, editing, and researching. Please do not reproduce them without crediting us.
Sources:
1. "Nicolás Ruiz Espadero." Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish). dbe.rah.es/biografias/70812/nicolas-ruiz-espadero
2. "Nicolás Ruiz Espadero." In Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Ruiz_Espadero
3. Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2007, 149. books.google.com/books?id=fZZ4QKZEumIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA149