GRANADOS, ENRIQUE  BIOGRAPHY

Enrique Granados was born 27 July 1867 in Lérida, near Barcelona. The son of an army captain, he began piano lessons in 1879, continuing in 1880 with Joan Baptista Pujol (1835-1898) at the Academia Pujol. Three years later he performed Schumann’s Sonata, Op. 22, in an academy-sponsored competition, for which one of the jury members was the noted composer Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922). The sixteen-year-old Granados won the competition and obviously impressed Pedrell, who began giving Granados lessons in harmony and composition in 1884.

In 1887 Granados went to Paris, where he studied with Charles de Bériot (1833-1914). He was highly influenced by Bériot’s insistence on tone-production and pedal technique. In addition, Bériot emphasized improvisation in his teaching, reinforcing Granados’ natural ability. After returning to Barcelona in 1889, he published his Danzas españolas, which brought him international recognition.

As a performer Granados gave many concerts in Spain, France and New York, collaborating with musicians such as Isaac Albéniz and Pablo Casals, violinists Eugène Ysäye and Jacques Thibaud, pianists Mieczyslaw Horszowski and Camille Saint-Saëns. As a composer, he wrote chamber music, vocal music, operas, symphonic poems and piano works. Granados was also a fine teacher and in 1901 he founded the Academia Granados, which produced many notable musicians, such as Paquita Madriguera, Conchita Badia and Frank Marshall.

In 1912 Granados met the American pianist Ernest Schelling, who was the first pianist to perform Granados’ music outside Spain. Schelling arranged for Granados’s works to be published in New York and encouraged him in his plans to convert the piano suite Goyescas into an opera, later arranging for its première at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Terrified of the ocean, Granados nevertheless sailed to New York for the premiere of the opera on 28th January 1916. While in the United States he performed numerous concerts, made piano-roll recordings, and also performed at the White House in Washington. He and his wife set sail to Europe by way of England but while crossing the English Channel on board the Sussex, a German submarine torpedoed the ship and they both perished.

Today, Granados is universally recognised as one of Spain’s most important composers. His music is multi-faceted, although it is essentially Romantic with some Nationalist characteristics. He has been variously described as "the Spanish Chopin", "the last Romantic", and by his compatriots as "our Schubert". No single characterisation adequately describes his personality. He had a distinctive voice that is instantly recognisable and entirely his own.

Operas

In addition to a number of zarzuelas, Granados's opera Goyescas, is derived from piano pieces after paintings by Goya. This was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1916. An Intermezzo from the opera, either in orchestral form or as a duet for cello and piano, has proved viable in the concert hall.

Piano Music & Orchestral Arrangements

The ten Danzas españolas ('Spanish Dances') are immensely effective, both in their original piano version and in various instrumental, and orchestral arrangements. The piano suite Goyescas of 1911 is more ambitious in its technical requirements. There are further compositions for piano including six pieces based on popular Spanish songs and seven Valses poeticos.