Francisco de Goya y Lucientes - The Straw Manikin - WGA10009

''Goyescas'', Op. 11, subtitled ''Los

majo ''Majo'' (masc., ) or ''maja'' (fem., ), also ''manolo'' and ''manola'', after the most popular names, were people from the lower classes of Spanish society, especially in Madrid, who distinguished themselves by their elaborate outfits and sens ...

s enamorados'' (''The Gallants in Love''), is a piano suite written in

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

by Spanish composer

Enrique Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or ''Enric Granados'' in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Cat ...

. It was inspired by the work of the Spanish artist

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

. The piano pieces have not been authoritatively associated with any particular paintings with two exceptions: *''El amor y la muerte'' (Love and death) shares its title with one of Goya's prints from the series called '' Los caprichos'' *''El pelele'' (The straw man) is one of Goya's paintings. This piano suite is usually considered Granados's crowning creation. It forms part of the standard Romantic piano repertoire and is sometimes recorded by pianists who are not particularly associated with Spanish music as well as being a major staple of the repertoire of those who have specialized in Spanish repertoire. It is often considered to be one of the two crown-jewels in Spanish piano repertoire along with the Iberia Suite of Isaac Albeniz.

Writing of the ''Goyescas''

The piano writing of ''Goyescas'' is highly ornamented and extremely difficult to master, requiring both subtle dexterity and great power. Some of them have a strong improvisational feel, the clearest example of this being the fifth piece, called ''El amor y la muerte'' (''Love and Death''). The fourth piece in the series (''Quejas, ó la maja y el ruiseñor''—''The Maiden and the Nightingale'') is the best known piece from the suite. It resembles a

nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' "of the night") was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...

, but is filled with intricate figuration, inner voices and, near the end, glittering bird-like trills and quicksilver

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

s. Mexican songwriter

Consuelo Velázquez Consuelo Velázquez Torres (August 21, 1916, in Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco – January 22, 2005, Mexico City), also popularly known as Consuelito Velázquez, was a Mexican concert pianist and composer. She was the composer of famous Mexican balla ...

based her 1940 song ''

Bésame Mucho "Bésame Mucho" (; "Kiss Me A Lot") is a bolero song written in 1932 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. One of the most important songs in the history of Latin music, it became one the most popular pop standards of the 20th century as ...

'' on this melody. This piano suite was written in two books. Work on ''Goyescas'' began in 1909, and by 31 August 1910, the composer was able to write that he had composed "great flights of imagination and difficulty." Granados himself gave the première of Book I at the

Palau de la Música Catalana Palau de la Música Catalana (, ) is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan ''modernisme, modernista'' style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for Orfeó Català, a ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

on 11 March 1911. He completed Book II in December 1911 and gave its first performance at the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by the acoustician Gustave Lyon together with the architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed i ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 2 April 1914. ''El pelele'' (''The Straw Man''), subtitled ''Escena goyesca'', is usually programmed as part of the ''Goyescas'' suite; Granados gave the première in the Teatre Principal at

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

, on 29 March 1914.

The suite

Book I: *''Los requiebros'' (The Compliments) *''Coloquio en la reja'' (Conversation at the Window) *''El fandango de candil'' (Fandango by Candlelight) *'' Quejas, o La Maja y el ruiseñor'' (Complaint, or the Girl and the Nightingale) Book II *''El Amor y la muerte (Balada)'' (Ballad of Love and Death) *''Epilogo: Serenata del espectro'' (Epilogue: Serenade of the Spectre) * *''El Pelele: Escena Goyesca'' (The Puppet/Straw Dummy: Goya Scene) ''El Pelele'' is technically not part of the suite, but very often played with it.

Publication

Book One, consisting of the first four pieces in the suite was published in Barcelona in 1912. Book Two, which consists of the last two pieces was published in 1914.

Recordings

20th century

*Granados: the composer's playing of the work was captured on

piano roll A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. Piano rolls, like other music rolls, are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched into them. These perforations represent note contro ...

Goyescas, Part 1, Los Requiebros
as recorded by Granados on piano roll, c. 1913, Paris *Alicia de Larrocha

Alicia de Larrocha Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle (23 May 192325 September 2009) was a Spanish pianist and composer. She was considered one of the great piano legends of the 20th century. Reuters called her "the greatest Spanish pianist in history", ''Time'' " ...

was noted for her performances of ''Goyescas'' of which she made several recordings; a version on the

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

label was a winner at the

34th Annual Grammy Awards The 34th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1992, recognizing accomplishments by musicians from the previous year (1991). Natalie Cole won the most awards (three), including Album of the Year. Paul Simon opened the show. Performers ...

(Best classical instrumental solo recording 1991). * Douglas Riva * Thomas Rajna * Eduardo del Pueyo

21st century

Garrick Ohlsson Garrick Olaf Ohlsson (born April 3, 1948) is an American classical pianist. In 1970 Ohlsson became the first, and remains the only, competitor from the United States to win the gold medal awarded by the International Chopin Piano Competition, at ...

Kun-Woo Paik Kun-woo Paik (; born March 10, 1946, in Seoul) is a South Korean pianist. He has performed with multiple orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic. Early life Kun-Woo ...

* Luis Fernando Pérez

Opera

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

Granados wrote a one-act

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, also called '' Goyescas'', to a Spanish libretto by Fernando Periquet y Zuaznaba, using melodies from the piano suite. This was first performed in 1916. A film called ''Goyescas'' was based on the opera. The Intermezzo is primarily from the Opera and known best in its orchestral version, however there is also a rarely performed piano version of this Intermezzo as well which the American pianist Neil Galanter recorded in his release of the Goyescas Suite.

References

* Kennedy, Michael (2006), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', 985 pages,

External links

* {{Authority control Compositions by Enrique Granados Spanish compositions for solo piano Suites (music) Music based on art 1911 compositions 1910s in Spanish music Francisco Goya