This is the second album of my Enrique Granados trilogy, which commemorates the 100^th anniversary of his death (2016), and the 150^th anniversary of his birth (2017).

Granados was a Catalonian composer with a strong interest in popular Spanish songs and music, and whose compositions also show some flamenco influences. For example, the ‘Prelude’ of ‘Six pieces based on Spanish popular songs’ is very reminiscent of the flamenco guitarist Ramón Montoya’s minera, especially its beginning. I do not know if there is any connection between these two pieces, or if the similarities are purely coincidental. It is, at any rate, worth emphasising, as this opens an interesting avenue of research about the possible mutual influence of Granados’s music and flamenco. I have tried to be faithful to the original pieces in both the transcription and the interpretation, adding some flamenco rhythms that, in my opinion, are implicit in many of the master’s melodies.

Granados’ work could be divided into two phases. One of the most significant pieces of his early phase is ‘Spanish dances’, which was included in the first album of the trilogy Granados por Cañizares, and the absolute masterpiece of the late phase is ‘Goyescas’, which will feature in the third volume. This second album includes pieces from both periods: six pieces based on Spanish popular songs from the early phase and several poetic valses from the second. Both works convey Granados’ musical personality and depth.

I hope to have given Granados’ music a different touch; different but not distant from the idea that the master tried to communicate. I hope that you will enjoy my take on his music, which stems from the utmost respect and admiration towards Granados and his art.

January 2017

Juan Manuel Cañizares