Albéniz began composing his Suite española in 1886. It was intended as a collection of eight pieces, each highlighting a particular region of Spain, including Cuba. As it happened, only four pieces were published, and those as individual compositions.

Twenty years later, another publisher took up the project and the suite as we know it was completed using other pieces Albéniz had composed in the interim. Deliciously atmospheric, by turns languid and festive, the suite’s movements each bear a descriptive subtitle.