Music marks an individual. And in the case of Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso—with such a name how can one not now and then play a joke on the world?—we know we are dealing with a Spaniard, who cared greatly for the folk music of his country, whether from Andalusia or Catalonia and in a lesser sense that country's 'art' music.

This does not, however, mean that he did not like or associate with 'composed' music. After all, much of his stage designs were for ballets or for plays with music composed by the likes of Eric Satie, Manuel de Falla, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy and Darius Milhaud to mention a few. He obviously had taste for it. In addition, many of his paintings and drawings included musical instruments. Obviously, this muse had a strong effect on him.

Naïve records has come out with a double CD of music associated with Picasso, music he identified with and even liked to sing. It gives us quite an insight into his personality, the passion, pain, even the violence and the melancholy that inhabited him and his life.

Represented on CD 1 are the composers Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Morente, Satie, de Falla, El Chino, Frédéric Mompou, Stravinsky, Enric Granados, Morai to Chico, and Ravel. CD 2 features Granados, Satie, Stravinsky, and Pedro & Ines Bacan. The variety of they styles and approach to music show Picasso had as varied a taste for music as the art he created.

Some of the music presented on the two CDs was recorded fairly recently and some of it is re-mastered material dating back to before WWII. All of it is pleasurable to listen to and performed by a variety of musicians, singers and orchestras. It is well re-recorded from whatever original this music was captured by naïve for our enjoyment and is eminently worth adding to a personal library.