Pantaléon Enrique Costanzo Granados y Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916) was a
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
CatalanCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
pianist and
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
of classical music. His music is in a uniquely Spanish style and, as such, representative of musical nationalism. Enrique Granados was also a talented painter in the style of
Francisco GoyaFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history...
.
He was born in
LleidaLleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain.It had 131,731 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raïmat and Sucs...
(in Spanish
Lérida),
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
(
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
). As a young man he studied piano in
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
, where his teachers included Francisco Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol.
Pantaléon Enrique Costanzo Granados y Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916) was a
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
CatalanCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
pianist and
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
of classical music. His music is in a uniquely Spanish style and, as such, representative of musical nationalism. Enrique Granados was also a talented painter in the style of
Francisco GoyaFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history...
.
Life
He was born in
LleidaLleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain.It had 131,731 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raïmat and Sucs...
(in Spanish
Lérida),
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
(
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
). As a young man he studied piano in
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
, where his teachers included Francisco Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol. In 1887 he went to
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to study with Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot and, most importantly,
Felipe PedrellFelip Pedrell , was a Spanish Catalan composer. He worked as a musicologist and early music specialist and edited Victoria’s opera omnia. This and other of his writings fostered a keen interest in the early music of Spain.- References :*...
. He returned to Barcelona in 1889. His first successes were at the end of the 1890s, with the
zarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
Maria del Carmen, which earned the attention of King
Alfonso XIIIalign=right|Alfonso XIII , King of Spain, posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, was proclaimed King at his birth. He reigned from 1886-1931...
.
In 1911 Granados premiered his suite for piano
Goyescas, which became his most famous work. It is a set of six pieces based on paintings of Goya. Such was the success of this work that he was encouraged to expand it; he wrote an opera based on the subject in 1914, but the outbreak of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
forced the European premiere to be canceled. It was performed for the first time in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
on 28 January 1916, and was very well received. Shortly afterwards, he was invited to perform a piano recital for President
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
. Prior to leaving New York, Granados also made live-recorded
player pianoA player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls...
music rolls for the New-York-based Aeolian Company's "Duo-Art" system all of which survive today and can be heard - his very last recordings.
The delay incurred by accepting the recital invitation caused him to miss his boat back to Spain. Instead, he took a ship to England, where he boarded the passenger ferry
SussexThe Sussex was a cross-channel passenger ferry, which became the focus of an international incident when she was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1916....
for Dieppe, France. On the way across the
English ChannelThe English Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover...
, the
Sussex was torpedoed by a German U-boat, as part of the German
unrestricted submarine warfareUnrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules...
policy during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. In a failed attempt to save his wife Amparo, whom he saw flailing about in the water some distance away, Granados jumped out of his lifeboat, and
drowned. Ironically, he had a morbid fear of water for his entire life, and he was returning from his first-ever series of ocean voyages. Ironically too, the ship broke in two parts and only one sank (along with 80 passengers); the other part of the ship where his cabin was did not sink and was towed to port, with most of the passengers.
Music and influence
Granados wrote piano music,
chamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
(a
piano quintetA piano quintet is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one piano and four other instruments or a piece written for such a group.The most common grouping is one piano, two violins, a viola, and a cello—that is, a piano with a string quartet...
, a piano trio, music for
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
and piano), songs, zarzuelas, and an orchestral tone poem based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Many of his piano compositions have been transcribed for the classical
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
: examples include
Dedicatoria,
Danza No. 5,
Goyescas.
Granados was an important influence on at least two other important Spanish composers and musicians,
Manuel de FallaManuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish composer of classical music.-Biography:Manuel de Falla was born in Cádiz. His early teacher in music was his mother; at the age of 9 he was introduced to his first piano professor. Little is known of that period of his life, but his relationship with his...
and
Pablo CasalsPau Casals i Defilló , best known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and later conductor...
.
Some important works
- 12 Danzas españolas (1890) for piano. The contents of the four volumes are: Vol. 1: Galante (or Minueto), Orientale, Fandango (or Zarabanda); Vol. 2: Villanesca; Andaluza (or Playera); Rondalla aragonesa (or Jota); Vol. 3: Valenciana; Sardana
The sardana , plural sardanes, is a type of circle dance typical of Catalonia, Spain. The dance was originally typical from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughout Catalonia during the 20th century....
(or Asturiana); Romántica (or Mazurca); Vol. 4: Melancólica (or Danza Triste); Zambra; Arabesca.
- María del Carmen
María del Carmen is an opera in three acts composed by Enrique Granados to a Spanish libretto by José Feliú i Codina based on his 1896 play of the same name. It was Granados' first operatic success and although largely forgotten today, he considered it to be his best opera...
(1898), opera
- Allegro de concierto (1903)
- Escenas románticas (1903) for piano. The individual "scenes" are: Mazurca; Berceuse; Allegretto; Mazurka; Allegro appassionato; Epílogo
- Dante (1908), symphonic poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
- Tonadillas (1910) for voice and piano. Titles of individual songs in the collection are: Amor y odio; Callejeo; El majo discreto; El majo tímido; El mirar de la maja; El tra-la-la y el punteado; La maja de Goya; La Maja Dolorosa I, II y III; Ay majo de mi vida!, Oh muerte cruel!, De aquel majo amante; La currutacas modestas; Sí al retiro me llevas; El majo olvidado
- Goyescas
Goyescas, subtitled Los majos enamorados , is a piano suite written in 1911 by Spanish composer Enrique Granados. This piano suite is usually considered Granados's crowning creation and was inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya, although the piano pieces have not been authoratively associated...
(1911), suite for piano. Movements are: Los Requiebros; Coloquio en la Reja; El Fandango de Candil; Quejas ó la Maja y el Ruiseñor; El Amor y la Muerte; Epilogo (Serenata del Espectro).
- Bocetos (1912) which contains: Despertar del cazador; El hada y el niño; Vals muy lento; La campana de la tarde
- Colección de canciones amatorias (1915), for voice and piano. Individual songs are: Descúbrase el secreto; Mañanica era; Mira que soy niña; Gracia mía; Iban al Pinar; Lloraba la niña; No lloráis ojuelos.
- Goyescas
Goyescas, subtitled Los majos enamorados , is a piano suite written in 1911 by Spanish composer Enrique Granados. This piano suite is usually considered Granados's crowning creation and was inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya, although the piano pieces have not been authoratively associated...
, opera, 1916
- 6 Estudios expresivos
- 6 Piezas sobre cantos populares españoles, which include: Añoranza; Ecos de la parranda; Vascongada; Marcha oriental; Zambra; Zapateado
- Madrigal, for cello and piano
- 7 Valses Poéticos. , for Piano, including No 6 Vals Poético
- Trio, for piano, violin, and cello.
Media
External links
Recordings by Granados
- Goyescas, Part 1, Los Requiebros as recorded by Granados on piano roll, c. 1913, Paris (Info)
- L'escola pianística catalana (Enregistraments històrics) (la mà de guido , LMG3060)
- Enrique Granados today playing his 1913 interpretations (The Welte Mignon Mystery Vol. I)
- Enrique Granados: Composer as Pianist (Pierian Recording Society, PIR0002)
- Masters of the Piano Roll: Granados Plays Granados (Dal Segno Records, DSPRCD008)
- The Catalan Piano Tradition (VAI Audio, 1001)
- Rollos de Pianola (Obras de Albéniz, Granados, Turina, Ocón, Chapí, Alonso y Otros) (Almaviva)
- Piano Rolls (The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation)