DONOSTIA: Basque Preludes / Nostalgia
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Jose Antonio Donostia (1886-1956) Piano Works Padre Donostia was not only one of the greatest Basque composers of sacred, symphonic and stage music, but...
Jose Antonio Donostia (1886-1956)
Piano Works
Padre Donostia was not only one of the greatest Basque
composers of sacred, symphonic and stage music, but
also a highly influential collector of and expert in his
native region's folk-music. The true significance of his
work in both fields has yet to be fully recognised.
Jose Gonzalo de Zulaica y Arregui was born in
San Sebastian in the Spanish Basque Country on
8th December 1886. At the age of ten he was sent to the
Capuchin College in Lekaroz in Navarre, where he
studied piano, harmony and counterpoint with Father
Otano. He joined the order himself and on his ordination
as a priest took the name Father Jose Antonio of
Donostia (the Basque name for San Sebastian). Given
his background then, it was entirely natural that he
should have found himself drawn to two of the strongest
currents in European music at the time, nationalism and
the revival of liturgical plainchant under Pope Pius X.
Padre Donostia dedicated much of his time to
researching traditional Basque folk-music and studying
Gregorian chant. After a period of study and meditation,
he fulfilled a long-held desire when he undertook the
composition of his Preludios vascos para piano
(Basque Piano Preludes), based on traditional themes.
He composed other works between 1910 and 1920,
including Euskal Eresiak and the Melodias catalanas
(Catalan Melodies).
His music had an immediate impact, and in January
1920 he travelled to Paris to continue his studies. There
he met Ravel and had the opportunity to study all the
latest artistic trends, before setting off on a series of
journeys around France and Argentina, where his works
were enthusiastically received. During the 1920s he
wrote the stage works Los tres milagros de santa Cecilia
(The Three Miracles of Saint Cecilia) and La vie
profonde de saint François d'Assise (The Profound Life
of St Francis of Assisi). His orchestral compositions
also include the instrumental versions of a number of
Basque pieces, the Preludes, Acuarelas vascas (Basque
Watercolours), Infantiles (Pieces for Children), and the
above-mentioned stage works.
When the Civil War broke out in Spain in 1936, he
went into exile in France and there devoted himself
almost entirely to sacred music. Two of the most
important works of his later years are the Poema de la
Pasion (Passion Poem) and the Requiem Missa pro
defunctis. Having returned to Spain at the end of the war,
he settled in Barcelona, where he helped establish the
Spanish Institute of Musicology. The last years of his
life were divided between Barcelona and Baztan (in
Navarre), where he died in 1956.
Padre Donostia's greatest achievement was to bring
prestige to traditional Basque music. He succeeded in finding
and conveying its deeper significance, faithfully and
elegantly, as well as in achieving the perfect balance
between the assimilation of tradition and the huge influence
of his impressionist contemporaries, Ravel and Debussy.
At the core of his piano repertoire are the four books
of Preludes (1912-16), to which must also be added the
Menuet basque (Basque minuet), Andante para una
sonata vasca (Andante for a Basque sonata), Herrimina
(Nostalgia), Homenaje a J.C. de Arriaga (Tribute to Juan
Crisostomo de Arriaga), Prière plaintive à Notre-Dame
de Socorri (Heartfelt Prayer to Our Lady of Socorri), and
two original pieces for guitar, Tiento y cancion (Tiento
and Song) and Vora'l Ter (On the Banks of the Ter).
Common to the four books of Preludes is a concern
for the strict reproduction of the traditional melodies,
which are always allowed to shine through. Padre
Donostia's expressive writing rises up above the
melody, its express intention being to describe the text,
harmonic backgrounds representing landscapes,
rhythmic patterns, impressionistic recitatives, distant
music from religious processions and festivities,
children's games, and so on, all of which are marked by
their simplicity and nostalgic lyricism. Although the
works were written within a short time of one another,
the later pieces show that Padre Donostia's musical and
harmonic idiom was beginning to move away from its
classical roots to become more impressionistic in nature.
Santiago Gorostiza
(English version: Susannah Howe)
Euskal Preludioak (Basque Preludes) (more info)
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Bat-batian (Improvisation) - 1:47
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Izketan (Dialogue) - 1:47
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Oyanian (In the Wood) - 2:45
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Eresia (Sad Song) - 3:04
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Aur-dantza (Children's Dance) - 3:15
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Onazez (Grief) - 1:37
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Aitonaren ele-zaarrak (Grandfather's Tale) - 1:59
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Artzai gaztearen oiuak (Shepherd-boy's Song) - 1:35
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Seask aldean erezis (Lullaby) - 2:12
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Bordako atalarrian (At the Farmhouse Door) - 1:04
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Mutillen karrika-eresiak (Young Man's Serenade) - 1:38
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Ilargitan, emazte-gayanerontz (Singing in the Moonlight) - 4:16
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Urruti-jaya (Distant Procession) - 4:43
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Irulea (The Spinner Woman) - 0:56
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Malkoa (Tears) - 2:55
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Eztei-taldea (Wedding Procession) - 4:02
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Errotazuriko Urretxindorra (The Nightingale of Errotazuri) - 3:54
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Zubero-errialde (Landscape of La Soule) - 3:47
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Sagar-dantza (Dance of the Apples) - 2:02
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Esku-dantza (Dance of the Hands) - 0:29
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Zozo-dantza (Dance of the Blackbird) - 0:46
Andante para una sonata vasca: alla classica (Andante for a Basque Sonata) (more info)
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Andante para una sonata vasca: alla classica (Andante for a Basque Sonata) - 4:57
Errimina - Nostalgie (Nostalgia) (more info)
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Errimina - Nostalgie (Nostalgia) - 4:40
Priere plaintive a Notre-Dame de Socorri (Heartfelt Prayer to Our Lady of Socorri) (more info)
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Priere plaintive a Notre-Dame de Socorri (Heartfelt Prayer to Our Lady of Socorri) - 3:02
Menuet Basque (more info)
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Menuet Basque - 1:57
Vora 'l Ter (On the Banks of the Ter) (more info)
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Vora 'l Ter (On the Banks of the Ter) - 2:18
Tiento y cancion (Tiento and Song) (more info)
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Tiento y cancion (Tiento and Song) - 4:18
Homenaje a Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga (more info)
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Homenaje a Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga - 2:19