In the latest volume of this critically admired series, a number of rarely heard pieces from Albéniz’s first compositional phase can be savoured. They were composed between 1881 and 1892 and reveal the variety and flair of which he was capable, even in the smallest of musical forms, such as the delicious mazurkas. The Siete estudios (Seven Studies) are no mere exercises – rather they fuse the colour of Iberian music with the rigour of Central European traditions. Les Saisons is an evocative portrait of the seasons and can be seen as a forerunner of the impressionistic writing that would soon appear in French music.

This is another volume in the complete Albéniz piano work series, an undertaking carried out by several different pianists. Albéniz remains an important and influential composer – precursor to aspects of impressionism but also full of evocative scene setting and agile virtuosic vitality. The disc focuses on the composer’s first stage of compositional development.