Analysis Of Sarasate

Both of his most popular pieces, Symphonie espagnole and Cello Concerto in d minor, consists of rich Spanish flavors, which placed him as the leading French composer who incorporated with Spanish materials.

As of a Spanish descent, Lalo’s use of rhythmic and melodic materials pronounced a taste of exotic Iberian love. Yet, the influence of Sarasate’s colorful playing was indispensable. As a close friend of Sarasate, some readings suggested that Sarasate should have advice Lalo with the beautiful Spanish melodies that used effectively in the Symphonie espagnole . The Spanish atmosphere which Lalo created in his compositions was usually derived from several Spanish dance genres, including habanera and seguidilla, and flamenco folk tunes and songs.

As it is originated in Cuba, the name “habanera” is derived from the Catalan word “havanera”, which Havana is the capital city of Cuba. A bit of historical context of the habanera, the predecessor of habanera is called the contradanza, which is derived from the English country dance contradanse and adopted at the court of France. During the Haitian revolution of 1791, the French refugees brought this stylized French version of contradanse to Cuba and the dance became known as the habanera, which took hold in Cuba in the late 17th century and the early 18th century. Therefore, the habanera is a combination of European and African elements. The habanera dance is generally performed by couples, which features stately steps in which the feet are hardly lifted from the ground, accompanied by seductive movements of the arms, hips, head and eyes

In some variants of the seguidilla, for instance the sevillanas, the rhythm is based on 6/8 time, and could be interpreted as 3/4 time as well. Usually in major key, the melody of seguidilla often begins on an off-beat. A brief introduction is played by the guitar during performance, while the main section is freely repeated and varied. The seguidilla dance is usually performed in pairs, which features steps including turns, gliding steps, heel and toe rhythms stamped against the floor, to respond animatedly to the rhythm of the guitar and percussion, while the upper body movement is restrained. The dance is full of gusto, flirtation that lends itself freely to improvisation . Here, I enclose the opening of Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25, 3rd movement, which is a violin fantasy based on the themes from the opera Carmen by Bizet, in fig. 5 to show the use of seguidilla