Album

This double CD serves as a full survey of the piano music of Spanish composer Ernesto Halffter, a student of Manuel de Falla and an important figure of the interwar generation. Halffter lived until 1989, and the program includes works written in the 1940s and beyond; disc one is rounded off with a few nifty homenajes (homages) to other composers that Halffter wrote at the very end of his life. It is not only those works that reflect the styles of other composers; Halffter's music is colorful, but some of it lacks a distinctive personality. In the 1920s, however, he was onto something distinctive: he combined Spanish idioms with the astringent sounds of Stravinsky and the French neo-classicists, pushing his sound back toward the French mainstream without losing the rhythmic vigor of the music he grew up on. He took older Spanish music, specifically that of Domenico Scarlatti, as an inspiration, and in his piano music he cultivated sharp, percussive textures. One of the two sonatas on the disc is explicitly designated as an homage to Scarlatti, but his influence can be heard in the dry, brilliant gestures of the shorter pieces as well. Pianist Guillermo González emphasizes the edginess, perhaps too much so, by striking the keys as sharply as a New Orleans bluesman trying to cut through the noise of a crowded room. He is obviously enamored of Halffter's music, however, and you can sample the entrancing Marche joyeuse (Joyous March) for an example of the unusual ecstatic quality that Halffter's music has at its best. Probably a lot of Halffter for the casual buyer, but plenty of small gems for lovers of Spanish music of the last century.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 2
Ernesto Halffter Composer Crepúsculos, for piano Work 10:33 Guillermo González Piano
1	El viejo reloj del castillo	5:20			$0.99
2	Lullaby	2:24			$0.99
3	Una ermita en el bosque	2:49			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Marche joyeuse, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
4	Marche joyeuse, for piano	3:06			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Piano Sonata Work Guillermo González Piano
5	Piano Sonata	6:57			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Espagnolade for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
6	Espagnolade for piano	5:57			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Grüss, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
7	Grüss, for piano	2:29			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Serenata a Dulcinea, incidental music for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
8	Serenata a Dulcinea, incidental music for piano	6:22			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Habanera, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
9	Habanera, for piano	3:50			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Pregón, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
10	Pregón, for piano	3:23			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Preludio y danza, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
11	Preludio y danza, for piano	6:44			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Llanto por Ricardo Viñes, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
12	Llanto por Ricardo Viñes, for piano	5:00			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Piano Sonata ("Homenaje a Domenico Scarlatti") Work Guillermo González Piano
13	Piano Sonata ("Homenaje a Domenico Scarlatti")	8:13			$1.49
Ernesto Halffter Composer Nocturno otoñal, for piano ("Recordando a Chopin") Work Guillermo González Piano
14	Nocturno otoñal, for piano ("Recordando a Chopin")	4:05			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Homenaje a Joaquín Turina, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
15	Homenaje a Joaquín Turina, for piano	2:14			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Homenaje a Federico Mompou, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
16	Homenaje a Federico Mompou, for piano	3:08			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Homenaje a Rodolfo Halffter, for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
17	Homenaje a Rodolfo Halffter, for piano	3:34			$0.99
CD 2 of 2
Ernesto Halffter Composer Suite de las Doncellas, for piano (original piano version) Work 35:11 Guillermo González Piano
1	Rigaudón	8:29			$1.49
2	Zarabanda	3:11			$0.99
3	Giga	4:14			$0.99
4	Danza de la pastora	3:52			$0.99
5	Fandango	4:36			$0.99
6	Danza de la gitana	4:18			$0.99
7	Danza final	6:31			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Valencia No.2, pasodoble for piano Work Guillermo González Piano
8	Valencia No.2, pasodoble for piano	3:37			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Panaderos, for piano (from incomplete suite Doredianas) Work Guillermo González Piano
9	Panaderos, for piano (from incomplete suite Doredianas)	4:32			$0.99
Ernesto Halffter Composer Boleras de la Cachucha, for piano (from incomplete suite Doredianas) Work Guillermo González Piano
10	Boleras de la Cachucha, for piano (from incomplete suite Doredianas)	7:31			$1.49
Ernesto Halffter Composer Piezas infantiles (3), for piano, 4 hands Work 2:31 Belén González Domonte Piano, Guillermo González Piano
11	Sérénade	0:37			$0.99
12	Valse	0:56			$0.99
13	Marche	0:58			$0.99