Spanish composers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries found
themselves torn between two almost irreconcilable poles of musical influence,
those of Spanish nationalism and French modernism. The musical and artistic
magnetism of Paris was inescapable for European composers in the
nineteenth-century. Indeed by the time Isaac Albeniz arrived there to pursue
childhood piano studies in 1867, Paris had already been the musical capital of
Europe for some forty years. In light of this fact it is not surprising that
all but one of the Spanish composers represented on the present album was
affiliated with the French capital at o ne time or another. The Parisian
experience afforded promising young Spanish composers the opportunity to
interact with their peers from elsewhere in Europe and this interaction served
to elevate the status of Spanish music on the international stage. While the
modernized Spanish music that grew out of the Parisian experience was well
received abroad, however, it was often received in Spain with suspicion, if not
outright hostility. - Notes on Puerto Viejo by Michael Melvin