Edward Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole is not structured as one might expect a nineteenth-century concerto to be. Instead of the normal three, or maybe four, movements, we have five. The first movement announces grandiose pretensions in its orchestral introduction, and prolongs this forbidding vein even after the violin’s entrance, notwithstanding a passage of airy, Iberian romance that briefly passes through.
Once Lalo establishes himself as a “serious” composer, he seems content to operate on a lighter plane for the rest of the piece. The remaining four movements are ingratiating, recalling the style of violin concertos by Wieniawski or Vieuxtemps. Rhythms and melodic turns that we are sure to recognize as Spanish pepper the piece. The second movement is a dance-like seguidilla.
The Intermezzo has a sterner cast, although its flamenco-style melody is sultry and alluring. Again the mind strays to Carmen, in this case to its famous Habanera.
No words are adequate, so here’s the music as performed by Jascha Heifetz:
