ENRIQUE GRANADOS (1874)

Pianist and composer, a leader of the movement toward nationalism in late 19th-century Spanish music.

He made his debut as a pianist at 16 supporting himself by playing in a cafe while studying composition in Barcelona with Felipe Pedrell, the father of Spanish nationalism in music.

He studied piano in Paris in 1887.
Returning to Barcelona in 1889 he established himself as a pianist of the front rank.

His 12 Danzas españolas won great popularity.
The first of his seven operas María del Carmen was produced in 1898.
In 1900 he founded a short-lived classical concerts society and his own piano school which produced many distinguished players.

His interest in the 18th century is reflected in his attractive tonadillas, songs written in the ancient style.

He wrote extensively and fluently for the piano in a somewhat diffuse romantic style.
His masterpieces the Goyescas (1911-13) noted for their elegance and passions are reflections on Goya´s paintings and tapestries. They were adapted into an opera that received its premiere in New York City in 1916.

Returning home from this performance Granados drowned when his ship the Sussex was torpedoed by a German submarine.