The Spanish Dances are a collection of eight pieces for violin and piano composed by Pablo de Sarasate between 1877 and 1882 and published in four books, each book combining two dances contrasting in rhythm and character. They are among Sarasate's best known works.
Cover of the first edition of Book I
Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués, commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish (Navarrese) violinist, composer and conductor of the Romantic period. His best known works include Zigeunerweisen, the Spanish Dances, and the Carmen Fantasy.
Pablo de Sarasate in 1905
Photo of Sarasate from an Austrian newspaper in 1906
The familiar figure of Sarasate caricatured as a "Man of the Day" for Vanity Fair, 1889