The 20 short tone poems (and one episode) for piano two hands, Op. 34 (1934) (1932) by Richard H. Stein form a musical approach to the landscape, culture, and identity of the Canary Islands. Composed during Stein's exile in Gran Canaria, the so-called Canarian Suite (Canarias) is a unique document of artistic self-positioning between European modernism and regional roots.
Richard Heinrich Stein (1882–1942), born in Halle an der Saale, came to Gran Canaria in 1932 after initial stays there beginning in 1914. Under the impression of the rise of National Socialism, he left Germany and settled in Santa Brígida, where he created a lively cultural center in the “Casa del Sol.” Over the next ten years, he worked as a composer, intellectual, and controversial publicist, participated in cultural-political debates, and dealt intensively with the question of an independent Canarian identity.
The Canarian Suite is Stein's most important work composed on the island. In 20 miniatures and one episode, it unfolds a multi-layered musical panorama: landscape images such as Moonlit Night in the Orotava Valley or Tejeda, scenes from everyday life, religious and festive impressions, memories of songs, dances, and customs of the archipelago. Traditional elements are combined with a modern, finely differentiated musical language that does not quote the original in a folkloric way, but transforms it poetically.
After Stein's early and mysterious death, his work was long forgotten. It was only through the research of Lothar Siemens Hernández and the initiative of pianist Sergio Alonso that the suite was rediscovered and performed in its entirety for the first time—on the occasion of the celebrations marking the founding of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
This recording brings to life an extraordinary work that combines exile, cultural curiosity, and artistic vision—a lasting contribution to the musical and cultural history of the Canary Islands.
Programme
[01] No. 1 Noche de luna en el Valle de La Orotava / Moonlit night in the Orotava Valley (Tenerife)
[02] No. 2 Cantos con estribillo zapateado de La Gomera / Songs with stamping dance (La Gomera)
[03] No. 3 Crepúsculo en la Catedral de Las Palmas / Twilight in Las Palmas Cathedral
[04] No. 4 Verbena en el campo / Rural folk festival
[05] No. 5 Un oasis en Lanzarote, con chiquillos / An oasis with children playing (Lanzarote)
[06] No. 6 Pequeños flautistas de La Palma / Small pipe flute players from the island of La Palma
[07] No. 7 Los novios / Lovers' dialogue
[08] No. 8 Un chico “bien” se casa / A distinguished marriage
[09] No. 9 Disputa femenina / Funny argument among young girls
[10] No. 10 Sepulcro solitario en la primavera / Lonely grave in spring
[11] No. 11 Huérfanas jugando en un patio antiguo / Games played by orphan girls in an old courtyard
[12] No. 12 Anhelos tímidos / Shy longing
[13] No. 13 In memoriam de una joven artista canaria / In memory of a young Canarian artist
[14] No. 14 Las dos hermanas (canción de cuna y canción frívola) / The Two Sisters (Lullaby and Dance Song)
[15] No. 15 “El marinero” (canción humorística de Valverde) / “The Sailor” (Humorous song of the port workers of Valverde)
[16] No. 16 Una “Guajira” para cantarla / A “Guajira” (dance song in 3/4=6/8 time)
[17] No. 17 Episodio: Canciones populares alemanas a bordo de un barco / Episode: Songs of home aboard a German ship
[18] No. 18 El mar / The sea
[19] No. 19 Danzas y canciones antiguas / Ancient songs and dances
[20] No. 20 Serenata canaria / Canarian serenade
[21] No. 21 Tejeda / Tejeda
Total playing time: 74:18
Biographies
The German composer Richard Heinrich Stein, born on February 28, 1882, in Halle (Saale), initially studied law at the University of Berlin and music with Engelbert Humperdinck at the Royal Academy of Arts; in 1911, he received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Erlangen. Although he was a remarkable essayist, his musical calling ultimately determined his life, both in lectures on music and as a composer. To escape the horrors of World War I, he lived in Spain for the first time between 1914 and 1919, where he frequented the intellectual circles of Madrid and Barcelona. After returning to Germany, he ran his own music school and worked as music director at the Urania Theater in 1923 and at Berlin Radio in 1924. In the period that followed, he worked as a music teacher for piano and composition. After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, he emigrated to Spain, to the Canary Islands, and settled in Monte Coello, in the municipality of Santa Brígida (Gran Canaria), where he died under mysterious circumstances on August 11, 1942.
Richard H. Stein composed 100 piano pieces and 50 songs. He experimented with quarter-tone music and constructed a piano and a clarinet for this purpose; in 1909, he published a brochure on the subject. His Opus 26, Two Concert Pieces for Violoncello and Piano, is considered the first printed quarter-tone composition. Zwei Konzertstücke für Violoncello und Klavier, gilt als die erste gedruckte Vierteltonkomposition.
Sergio Alonso, born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, completed his music studies at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with an Honorable Mention and subsequently with a doctorate Cum Laude. From 2009 to 2015, he was director of the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias and from 2009 to 2015 a member of the Consejo Superior de Enseñanzas Artísticas del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. From January 1994 to June 2017, he was also principal pianist of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, where he played under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Antoni Ros Marbá, Günther Herbig, Pedro Halffter, Fabio Biondi, Bernhard Klee, Adrian Leaper, and Semion Bichkov, among others. As a soloist and member of chamber music ensembles, Alonso has enjoyed a wide-ranging musical career, both in his home country and on international stages and tours (including in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, China, Japan, Morocco, and Mexico). His commitment to jazz, to which he devotes a significant part of his repertoire, is also noteworthy. Sergio Alonso performs with Natalia Falcón as a duo for two pianos and piano four hands.
More information
Catalogue number: NEOS 32404
EAN: 4260063324048
