Composer
Enrique Granados
The poet of the Spanish piano, inspired by the paintings of Goya.
Enrique Granados was one of the great Spanish composers of the turn of the 20th century, and a brilliant pianist. His music is romantic, poetic, and full of the spirit of Spain, and his masterpiece, the piano suite Goyescas, was inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya.
Life in brief
Granados was born in 1867 in Lleida, in Catalonia, the son of an army officer, and grew up in Barcelona. He studied piano there and composition with Felipe Pedrell, the scholar who inspired a generation of Spanish composers to explore their own folk music, and then spent two years in Paris. Back in Barcelona, he won fame as a pianist, published his popular Spanish Dances, and in 1901 founded his own piano academy, which trained many distinguished pianists.
He became fascinated by the art and society of late 18th-century Madrid, as seen in the paintings and tapestry designs of Goya, and from 1909 to 1911 he composed Goyescas, a suite of piano pieces evoking that world. Its success in Paris led to a commission to turn it into an opera, which was premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in January 1916, the first opera in Spanish staged there.
His death was a tragedy. After an invitation to play for President Woodrow Wilson at the White House, Granados and his wife changed their travel plans and returned to Europe by way of England. In March 1916, the ferry carrying them across the English Channel, the Sussex, was torpedoed by a German submarine. Granados reached a lifeboat, but seeing his wife struggling in the water, he jumped back in to save her, and both drowned.
Music and style
Granados's music is lyrical and richly Romantic, closer to Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt than to the folk-based nationalism of some of his contemporaries. Its Spanish character is refined and nostalgic, evoking the elegance and melancholy of old Madrid. His piano writing is florid and ornamented, sometimes improvisatory, and very demanding.
Key works
- Goyescas (1911) - a suite of six piano pieces inspired by Goya. See piano.
- "The Maiden and the Nightingale" ("Quejas, o la maja y el ruiseñor") - the most famous piece from Goyescas, ending with the song of a nightingale.
- Spanish Dances - twelve popular piano pieces, published in the 1890s.
- "Andaluza" (Playera) - the fifth Spanish Dance, a favorite of guitarists. See classical guitar.
- Intermezzo from Goyescas - a lush orchestral interlude written for the opera.
- Tonadillas - songs in the style of old Madrid, including "La maja dolorosa." See art song.
Legacy
With Albéniz and Manuel de Falla, Granados led the flowering of Spanish music around 1900, and his music remains central to the piano and guitar repertoire. See also the Romantic era.
Where to start listening: "The Maiden and the Nightingale," then "Andaluza" on piano and guitar, and the Intermezzo from Goyescas.