Sarasate, Pablo

Pablo de Sarasate

Pablo de Sarasate (born Pamplona, Spain 1844; died Biarritz, France, 1908) was a prolific composer of melodic character pieces.

His musical talent became evident early: he appeared in his first public concert in A Coruña at the age of eight. At the age of twelve he was sent to study under Jean-Delphin Alard at the Paris Conservatoire. There, at seventeen, he entered a competition for the Premier Prix and won his first prize, the Conservatoire's highest honour.

The best known of his works is Zigeunerweisen (1878), for violin and orchestra. Another famous piece, the Fantasía Carmen (1883), also for violin and orchestra, makes use of themes from Bizet's opera.

Marek Tabisz has produced excellent arrangements of some of Sarasate’s characteristic Spanish pieces, turning them into concert repertoire mainly for guitar and violin (and, in one case, cello).