MODERNISM AND MODERNITY
The history of the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Orfeó Català is written with exceptional documents: testimonies concerning the figures that were there at its founding; documents showing the connections that the Palau de la Música Catalana established with contemporary composers, or with noted soloists, such as Wanda Landowska and Blanche Selva; and finally, concert programmes and iconographic documents.
Enrique Granados. Goyescas. 2ª parte. Los majos enamorados (epílogo). Barcelona, 28th December 1911. Holograph manuscript, 5 f. (22 x 32 cm)
Concert programme of the Goyescas premiere. Palau de la Música Catalana, 11 March 1911
Goyescas by Granados
The holograph manuscript of “Epílogo” of the second part of Goyescas by Enrique Granados (1867 – 1916) is dated Barcelona, 28 December 1911. It is a nice bound copy with parchment with a green slip of paper with a gold ornamental bar. On the first sheet, the following is written by the author in pencil: “para gravar [sic]” and “todos los títulos también en francés”. The music is written first in pencil and then recopied with black ink; there are bars scratched out. In his edition, Granados dedicated this piece to the French pianist Alfred Cortot. Granados wrote many works inspired by the painting of Francisco de Goya, a painter to which he felt a special devotion (the Tonadillas are a prime example of this source of inspiration within the genre for voice and piano). He explained to Joaquin Malats: “In Goyescas I found my personality; I fell in love with the psychology of Goya and his palette”.
Connected with modernism, the driving force of the culture of Barcelona at the turn of the century, Granados was involved from the start in the project of the Orfeó Català and the Palau de la Música Catalana. The profound friendship that connected him to Lluís Millet and Amadeo Vives made him collaborate closely with the founders, above all in relation to the introduction of a very much reflected-upon musical education directed towards the singers (Granados aspired to a broader cultural education for musicians, more eclectic than that offered by the official training, as was demonstrated in his Academy founded in 1901). The Palau de la Música hosted the premier of Goyescas on 11 March 1911. With Goyescas, Granados not only contributed to the introduction of his music in international circuits, but also created a masterpiece that has never ceased to integrate the pianistic repertoire.
