Nine years separate the deaths of Martín Sánchez Allú and Fréderic Chopin, composers that resemble each other in death as well as in life. Both men suffered from a lung disease that eventually led to their  premature and fateful demise. Both also possessed the tragic aura typical of romantic artists and composed exquisite music that was as delicate as it was passionate.

The music of Chopin, which has inspired composers over the centuries, has been admired, analysed, and interpreted countless times. In contrast, the work of Sánchez Allú experienced a very different fate. On a far more distant horizon, his compositions have been largely forgotten or ignored in the same way as the piano pieces composed during the reign of Isabella II of Spain (1833-1868). According to Fernando Delgado, this is perhaps due to the eccentric nature of his career, which was marked by his early death, a brief stay in Madrid, his limited presence in musical institutions, and his relationship with the theatre. 

Whatever the reason, there are very few references in the literature to Sánchez Allú, and this, combined with the lack of recordings of his work, makes it extremely difficult to have a clear idea of his pianissimo, or to study how the interpretative style of his music has evolved over the centuries.

Therefore, the question is how to construct an interpretation of his music through this somewhat blurry lens. The lack of references signifies that the interpreter is confronted with an unknown universe that must first be unveiled in order to have a true idea of the composer’s perception of himself, humankind, nature, sound, harmony, and colour. Only in this way is it possible to truly understand the true significance of his music.

The piano compositions of Sánchez Allú, such as La Primavera, Dos Melodías, Impresiones Musicales, his nocturnes, romances without lyrics, and so many other pieces are imbued with the characteristics typical of Romanticism. They thus exalt imagination and feelings, as well as the presence of Nature and man’s desire to be one with it. His work is interwoven with melancholy as well as with a sense of disenchantment, which is transmitted in powerful melodies that vividly express emotions. These sentiments are conveyed in the modulating harmony of his compositions and in his quest for musical contrasts that evoke feelings through dynamic nuances.

Sánchez Allú was influenced by Santiago de Masarnau, Juan María Guelbenzu, and Marcial del Adalid, who were contact with the most renowned European composers of that time. This is probably why his music reflects certain compositional and stylistic aspects of these famous composers (especially Chopin). Allú’s work is characterized by his predilection for short compositions, the ‘singability’ of the instrument associated with the bel canto style as well as by his use of harmonic colour, meditative stillness, the bass as harmonic support, and the originality of rhythms in his compositions of a more Spanish nature, such as the seguidilla composed for the fifth meditation of La Primavera.

If anything defines Sánchez Allú, it is his evocative and suggestive poetic melodies, which he enhances with subtle but powerful accompaniments. He uses texture, melody, rhythm and timbre to express his feelings, thus transforming them into expressive resources that create an atmosphere, a state of mind, and which pay great attention to detail. His lyricism, creativity and imagination, the defining features of his work, ensure that his program music conveys ideas more expressively than the texts on which it is based.

The valuable research projects carried out by performers and musicologists such as José Máximo Leza, Alberto Hernández Mateos, Fernando Delgado García, and Josefa Montero, have helped to recover the work of unjustly forgotten composers, such as Sánchez Allú. 

In all likelihood, we will never know the full extent of his artistic potential since his life was truncated when his extraordinary creative talent was still blossoming. However, despite his early death, he has left us an invaluable legacy that must be respected and preserved.