Isaac Albeniz

Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) was a Spanish composer and virtuoso pianist whose music helped shape a distinctive Spanish voice in late Romantic composition. Born in Camprodon, Catalonia, he showed prodigious talent as a child and later studied in Madrid, Leipzig, and Brussels. Albéniz built an international career as a performer before focusing increasingly on composition. He is best known for *Iberia* (1905–1909), a landmark suite of twelve piano pieces that evokes the rhythms, colors, and regional character of Spain with innovative harmony and dazzling technique. He also wrote stage works, including the opera *Merlin*. Albéniz died in Cambo-les-Bains, France.