Glossa: GSP98006

The arrangement of Isaac Albéniz's Iberia for orchestra was the last major enterprise undertaken by Francisco Guerrero, although the composer's sudden and unexpected death in October 1997 unfortunately left the project only half-finished. Of the twelve numbers that comprise the famous piano suite, Guerrero managed to orchestrate six. In an interview published in 1989, when asked whom he regarded as the foremost Spanish composer from the last hundred years, he answered thus: "for me the greatest beyond doubt is Albéniz. Iberia is the greatest Spanish work in the last hundred years. It is sumptuous, fabulous music, an extraordinary masterpiece of inexhaustible richness." Iberia by Albéniz/Guerrero is something more than a simple transcription: it is a work that can be included in its own right in the catalogue of major works by Guerrero - the place where the genius of two visionaries converges.