Asturias - Leyenda. by Isaac Albeniz Classical Guitar - Digital Sheet Music

The work draws on original and early piano editions as well as the first guitar transcription made by Severino García Fortea who introduced key innovations familiar to most classical guitarists. Guitarists are encouraged to use this arrangement in consultation with the transcriptions by García Fortea, Andrés Segovia, and Stanley Yates.

Asturias is known for its abrupt chord interruptions which gives it its distinctive character. In the original, less well known, transcription for guitar by García Fortea, these were plucked with the thumb and three fingers simultaneously. Segovia expanded the chord to a full six strings which is strummed. This six-string variation is now adopted as standard in nearly all classical guitar versions and the work of García Fortea has all but been forgotten. Stanley Yates was aware of García’s version, though seems to have been misdirected by Segovia and did not appear to get hold of García’s work before making his own transcription.

A key difference between the piano versions and guitar versions is the fact that the pedal note is missing immediately following the chords played on the first notes of the bar. This seems to be a pragmatic decision made due to the technical challenge of articulating a chord on the guitar and then immediately following up with a pedal note. It may have been also a decision to more strongly emphasise the chord. However, the composer clearly indicated that the chord should be as short as all of the other notes and hence it is reasonable to strike the chord and immediately lose it and start the pedal note.

Clearly in the six-string version by Segovia it is nearly physically impossible to strum the chord and then immediately follow with a pedal on an open string. However, if we adopt García Fortea’s version of plucking the chord, it becomes possible to articulate the chord and then play the pedal note. In the first innovation in this version, this new arrangement reintroduces the pedal note following the chord. In other piano arrangements from the early 20th century, another variation used the bass note on the beat and the treble part of the chord as the pedal in a syncopated manner. The second innovation employed in this work explores this syncopated version.

© Daniel Clark 2021