Asturias (Leyenda) was written by Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz in 1892. At the time it was written, it was simply called Prelude, as the first movement of a three-movement suite Chants d-Espagne. It was written for piano, but became one of the most important works in the classical guitar repertoire, and we recommend listening to Andrés Segovia’s transcription, if you haven’t already!
Asturias is full of drama, with intricate melodies and sudden dynamic changes. It presents an exciting challenge for the solo handbell ringer!
The first performance of this arrangement of Asturias (Leyenda) was by internationally acclaimed handbell soloist Emily Li, at the 2025 Handbell Musicians of America Pinnacle event in Wichita, Kansas. We’re looking forward to receiving a video of Emily’s performance to share here, but in the meantime, here’s an mp3 to give you an idea:
Some of the challenges involved in this arrangement
This handbell solo arrangement is a challenging one! The tempo is 132, so there’s the raw speed to consider. You could slow it down slightly, of course, and it would still be an impressive piece. Combined techniques are needed, played simultaneously at high tempo. Emily played double mallets with one hand, and switched between one pair of bells and another, in the other hand, at the same time:
There are extensive legato passages requiring traveling four-in-hand:
The piano accompaniment is a challenge too! Lois Leong played beautifully for Emily Li’s solo concert, but (in case you don’t have a Lois of your own) an mp3 piano accompaniment track is available. This can be used for rehearsal or as a backing track for a performance.
We’ve included two versions of the arrangement in the score package. One is the original version, as performed by Emily Li at Pinnacle. The other is a slightly modified version that’s had a few of the challenges removed and is perhaps slightly easier to play. It still has plenty of challenges for the advanced soloist, though!
The bells needed for this arrangement are: A4-G7 for the original version, and A4-D7 for the slightly modified version.
If you’d like to play Asturias…
The score for Asturias (Leyenda) is available to download from Choraegus.
If you have questions…
If there’s anything more you’d like to know about this handbell solo, you’re welcome to contact us. Larry will be happy to answer your questions!
