This
remarkable book brings together in one sturdy, yet inexpensive volume
four of the most memorable and frequently played sets of works for the
piano by Enrique Granados (1867–1916), one of Spain's greatest modern
composers. They are reprinted here from early editions.
The piano suite Goyescas,
first performed in Barcelona in 1911, would bring Granados his
greatest, most enduring success. In each of its six pieces, the composer
employs wild, insistent melody and highly individual rhythm, harmony,
and coloring to create dramatic impressions of paintings by Goya, to
whose work Granados was deeply drawn.
The exquisite Spanish Dances,
a suite of early works, were much admired by the leading composers of
the day, among them Massenet, Saint-Saëns, and Grieg, not only for their
distinctive musical qualities, but also for the new direction in
Spanish music which they heralded. They remain today perhaps the most
performed of Granados's work.
Less well known in America are the beautiful Escenas poéticas and Escenas románticas, two
suites which reflect Granados's interest in the music of Grieg,
Schumann, and Liszt, yet are filled with the great Spanish composer's
original modulations and characteristic melodic writing. Together, the
four suites offer performing artists, teachers, students, and music
lovers a rich treasury of the finest and most enduring of Granados's
compositions for the piano.