Jota Navarra

Jota Navarra belongs to the sets of Spanish dances Sarasate published from the mid-1870s, written for his own concerts as he toured Europe and the Americas. The jota is the dance of Aragon and Navarre — Sarasate was born in Pamplona in 1844 — and the piece keeps its triple metre and guitar-like accompanying figures while adding the harmonics, left-hand pizzicato and rapid double stops that were his own trademarks. Sarasate's playing was praised for purity of tone rather than force, and the writing reflects that: brilliant without ever being heavy.