Enrique Granados Music Lives On

Born on July 27, 1867, Enrique Granados is a highly accredited Spanish Catalan pianist and composer.  It was his unique Spanish style and creativity that captivated audiences as he build up a recognizable image in the Classical music industry. Many of his piano compositions have been transcribed for the classical guitar.

Enrique was born in Lleida, Catalonia to Calixto Granados and Enriqueta Campina.  Unlike some of the other recognizable composers and musicians of classical music, Enrique did not actually pick up music at a very young age.  He began to study piano in Barcelona as a young man.  He had a few different teachers including Francisco Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol. 

It was in 1887 when he really became serious about music as he went to Paris to study with Charles-Wilfrid de Beriot and Felipe Pedrell.  After studying in Paris for two years, he returned to Barcelona in 1889.  Despite hard work and dedication, he did not have instant success as it was not until the late 1890s that he became recognized with the zarzuela Maria del Carmen.  This actually gained attention from King Alfonso XIII.

Skip ahead to 1911, Enrique Granados premiered his suite for piano Goyescas.  This easily became his most famous work to date as it included a set of six separate pieces that were based on paintings of Goya.  Enrique was actually a talented painter as well in the style of Francisco Goya. 

Because of the instant success he had with this series, he expanded on it and wrote an opera in 1914 based on it.  Unfortunately for Enrique, the timing could not have been any worse.  The outbreak of World War I canceled his European premiere and he had to wait for two years as it was first performed in New York City on January 28, 1916. 

The crowd in New York City took liking to his musical piece and he was even invited to perform a piano recital for President Woodrow Wilson.  In addition to this, he also made live-recorded player piano music rolls for a New-York-based Aeolian Company.  These were some of his last recordings and can actually be heard today.  One could say his trip to New York was quite successful to say the least.

It is as if bad timing always caught up to Enrique Granados.  Because of his acceptance for the recital invitation, he wound up missing his boat back to Spain.  As a result, he ended up taking a ship to England.  Tragically, the ship that he boarded to Dieppe, France was torpedoed by a German U-boat across the English Channel. 

The boat, Sussex, was hit as part of the German unrestricted submarine warfare policies during World War I.  Enrique attempted to save his wife Amparo, but was unsuccessful as she drowned in the water.  He then jumped out of his lifeboat and drowned himself. 

What is startling is the fact that Enrique Granados actually had a horrific fear of water his entire life.  His return was the first-ever series of ocean voyages in his life.  While the ship broke in two parts and only one sank, ironically his side of the ship did not sink.  Most of the passengers did survive on his side of the ship, but he and his wife were among the few that did not make it.  The couple left behind six children of their own: Eduard, who became a musician, Solita, Enric, Victor, Natalia and Francesc.

Despite the short-lived career of Enrique Granados, his music still lives on today.  The highly talented Spanish pianist will forever be remembered for his creativity and exquisite style that captivated audiences.  As mentioned above, his last recordings in New York can still be heard today as they did survive.

Classical Guitar – Segovia’s Advice About Practicing

Andres Segovia

This is how I deal with practicing the Classical Guitar. First of all, I would like to relate
the words of the late Andres Segovia, the greatest classical guitarist
ever, who if anyone would be the authority on the best method of practice.
This is what he taught me and told me was his method. Practice in sets
of fifteen minutes, divided into two sets of seven to eight minutes with a
short break between. At the end of each fifteen minutes, take a 3 minute
break, stand up, get a glass of water, stretch, etc. but be sure to take a
moment to focus your eyes on something far away to relax your eyes from
the close work of the page and the fretboard and to clear your mind. Start
again and do three fifteen minute sets, totaling 45 minutes of intense
practice. This time at the end of the third set take a real break of
about fifteen minutes. Repeat this 3-set practice routine for a total of
five times. At that point you will have spent around five and a half
hours.

That is the morning session, in the afternoon you will do this
entire routine again after you have had some lunch and a chance to rest.
In the years I was living in Madrid, between 1971 and 1975, the
traditional schedule for the day was to start between 8 and 9am, and have
your main meal of the day around 2 pm; everything would then shut down for
this meal and a siesta that followed. At anywhere between 5 and 7pm,
everything would open back up and the evening meal would not be until 9 or
even 10pm. I would eat the midday meal, take a siesta and then practice
from 5 to 10 pm, before eating dinner, the lighter meal of the day.

This is what Andres Segovia would do and what I was expected to do as his
student. Recently I heard somebody claim that he witnessed Segovia
excusing himself after dinner, saying that he had to practice. This was
not the case in my experiences with him; he practiced in the mornings and
in the late afternoons and early evenings. The exact method as far as the
content of my practice will be dealt with in a subsequent blog post.