Enrique Granados

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Lore & Background

Granados studied piano in Barcelona with Francisco Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol, then in Paris privately with Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, who insisted on extreme refinement in tone production and fostered his improvisation. He also studied with Felip Pedrell. His first major success came in the late 1890s with the opera María del Carmen, which attracted the attention of King Alfonso XIII. In 1903 he won a competition organized by Tomás Bretón of the Madrid Royal Conservatory with his Allegro de concierto, Op. 46, winning 500 pesetas with an almost unanimous jury vote. In 1911 he premiered his piano suite Goyescas, based on paintings by Francisco Goya, which became his most famous work and later inspired an opera of the same name. The opera premiered in New York City on 28 January 1916 and was very well received; he also performed a piano recital for President Woodrow Wilson and made live-recorded player piano music rolls for the Aeolian Company's Duo-Art system, all of which survive today.

Reader's Guide

Granados' significance lies in his piano works, especially the Goyescas suite, which established him as a leading figure in the modern Catalan school of piano. His music is divided into three styles: a romantic style including Escenas Románticas, a nationalist Spanish style including Danzas Españolas, and the Goya period including Goyescas and the opera Goyescas. He founded the Acadèmia Granados in Barcelona, which produced a long list of talented pianists including Frank Marshall and Alicia de Larrocha. His personal collection, including his epistolary collection with letters from Pablo Casals, Enrique Fernández Arbós, and Jules Massenet, is preserved in the Library of Catalonia and the Museu de la Música de Barcelona. Granados died in the torpedoing of the SS Sussex by a German U-boat in the English Channel during World War I; accounts of his death vary, with one witness saying his wife was too heavy for a lifeboat and he refused to leave her, and another saying he dove in to save her and perished. A subsequent account claims a money belt filled with gold from his American performances weighed him down. He had received the Order of Charles III and the French Legion of Honour.

Did You Know?

• Granados was born Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña in Lleida, Spain.
• His teacher Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot was the son of soprano Maria Malibran, who was of Spanish ancestry.
• He won a competition in 1903 with his Allegro de concierto, Op. 46, earning 500 pesetas with an almost unanimous jury vote.
• Granados made live-recorded player piano music rolls for the Aeolian Company's Duo-Art system in New York, which survive today.
• One account of his death claims a money belt filled with gold from his American performances caused him to sink while trying to save his wife.

Musical Formation and Artistic Identity

Enrique Granados Campiña was born in Lleida, Spain, on 27 July 1867, the son of Calixto José de la Trinidad Granados y Armenteros, a Spanish army captain born in Havana, Cuba, and Enriqueta Elvira Campiña de Herrera, from Santander, Spain. His early musical training took place in Barcelona under Francisco Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol. In 1887 he went to Paris to study. Though denied admission to the Paris Conservatoire, he took private lessons with conservatoire professor Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, whose mother, soprano Maria Malibran, was of Spanish ancestry. Bériot insisted on extreme refinement in tone production, strongly influencing Granados' teaching of pedal technique, and fostered his abilities in improvisation. He also studied with Felip Pedrell. Returning to Barcelona in 1889, he became part of the modern Catalan school of piano alongside Isaac Albéniz and Joaquin Malats, initiated by Pere Tintorer. His output spanned piano music, chamber music, songs, zarzuelas, and an orchestral tone poem based on Dante's Divine Comedy. His music can be divided into three periods: a romantic style, a nationalist Spanish style, and the Goya period.

Breakthroughs and the Goyescas Triumph

Granados' first successes came at the end of the 1890s with the opera María del Carmen, which attracted the attention of King Alfonso XIII. In 1903 he participated in a competition organized by Tomás Bretón of the Madrid Royal Conservatory, which awarded 500 pesetas for the best 'concert allegro' for solo piano. Granados submitted his Allegro de concierto, Op. 46, and the jury declared him the winner with an almost unanimous vote, bringing him to national attention. In 1911 he premiered his suite for piano Goyescas, a set of six pieces based on paintings of Francisco Goya, which became his most famous work. Such was its success that he was encouraged to expand it into an opera, completed in 1914. The European premiere was canceled due to World War I, but it was performed for the first time in New York City on 28 January 1916 and was very well received. Shortly afterwards, he was invited to perform a piano recital for President Woodrow Wilson. Before leaving New York, he made live-recorded player piano music rolls for the Aeolian Company's Duo-Art system, all of which survive today and can be heard. He had received the Order of Charles III and the French Legion of Honour.

Teaching, Influence, and Lasting Musical Footprint

Granados created a piano school in Barcelona, the Acadèmia Granados, which produced a long list of talented pianists, including Frank Marshall and Alicia de Larrocha. He was a significant influence on at least two other famous Spanish composers and musicians, Manuel de Falla and Pablo Casals. He was also the teacher of composer Rosa García Ascot. Many of his piano compositions have been transcribed for the classical guitar, including Dedicatoria, Danza No. 5, and Goyescas. His personal collection is preserved in the Library of Catalonia and the Museu de la Música de Barcelona, and includes his epistolary collection with letters from Pablo Casals, Enrique Fernández Arbós, Jules Massenet, and others.

The SS Sussex and a Tragic Final Voyage

Granados died on 24 March 1916 in the attack on the SS Sussex in the English Channel, when it was torpedoed by the German navy during World War I. A delay in New York, incurred by accepting a recital invitation, caused him to miss his boat back to Spain. Instead, he took a ship to England, where he boarded the passenger ferry SS Sussex for Dieppe, France. According to witness Daniel Sargent, Granados' wife Amparo was too heavy to get into a lifeboat; Granados refused to leave her and positioned her on a small life raft on which she knelt and he clung, and both drowned within sight of other passengers. However, according to a different account from another survivor, Granados was recognized in a lifeboat with his wife in the water, and he dived in to save her and perished. A subsequent account claims that Granados sank to the bottom of the ocean while attempting to save his wife due to a money belt fastened to his waist which was filled with gold from his American performances, as he insisted on being paid in gold due to the unstable global economy of World War I.