Description
Sarasate's Andalusian Romance, the first of two Spanish dances published as Op. 22, takes its title but not its themes from southern Spain. The melodies certainly sound folk-like, beginning with the warm, lyrical initial theme, accompanied by a rocking rhythmic piano accompaniment. The music soon begins ascending into higher registers, dropping lower, and shooting up again, while somehow maintaining a relaxed stance. Sarasate offers a second, somewhat simpler theme, which he immediately begins complicating with rich ornamentation (a practice he had established in the first thematic section). The easy tempo and frankly unimaginative accompaniment continue through most of the remainder of the piece, whose technical challenges do not become evident to the listener until about two-thirds of the way through, beginning with persistent double-stop material and ending with airy trills and a high whistle.