Renowned as the father of twentieth-century Spanish song, Falla was born in the Andalusian city of Cadiz and received his earliest musical education both there and in Madrid. His mother began his pianoforte studies while finding local musicians (Odera and Broca) to instruct him in harmony, counterpoint and composition. In Madrid his piano studies continued with José Tragó while composition, his primary interest, was overseen by Felipe Pedrell whose desire to create a Spanish national music based on the Spanish folk-song found an eager pupil. In 1905 Falla's 2-act opera La vida breve, although not produced, won the prize at the Real Academía de Bellas Artes in Madrid. In the same year he won the Ortiz y Cussó prize for pianists. In 1907 Falla moved to Paris where, aided and encouraged by Debussy, Dukas, and Ravel, he combined the principles of Impressionism with his already personal Spanish style. With the performances of his now revised La vida breve in Nice and Paris (1913) followed by a highly acclaimed performance in Madrid (1914), Falla's reputation as a leading figure in the Spanish Nationalist School was secured. In 1934, with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the ascendancy of the Franco regime, Falla moved to Argentina settling in Alta Gracia where he spent his last years.

Falla's primary contributions to the art song literature are his Siete canciones populares españolas (1914). The most performed of all Spanish art songs, these are quite representative of his early style. Following Pedrell's dictum to draw upon Spanish folk song as a 'source' for developing a truly Spanish style, Falla sketches the spirit of Spain in his arrangements. Somewhere between arranged folk-song and fully composed art song, in his Siete canciones Falla liberally draws out the original folk melody and fills the piano accompaniment with a variety of Spanish rhythms drawn from primarily Andalusian sources. His goal is always to evoke the 'spirit' of the song rather than be dictated by it. The brilliantly pianistic accompaniments are full of invention and artistry, interpreting and developing values and ideas not readily revealed in the song itself. Falla is said to have held the same views as the great Spanish poet García Lorca -- that the soul of Spanish music was derived from its cante jondo, the 'deep song' of the Andalusian gypsy. Simple text, but deep in content, Falla's colorful hues recreate an idiom both clearly Spanish and distinctly 'Falla'.

Copyright © 2005 Amelia Seyssel

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Gabriel Fauré never allowed himself to be dominated by popular foreign styles, from beginning to end remaining supremely French. For his inspiration and models he looked to Rameau and Bach as well as to the more contemporary composers in the French style, Gounod and Saint-Saëns. He was a man content to be himself: a personality by all accounts mild, reserved, and socially charming. His music, like his person, is filled with delicately expressed feeling and a sense of being at once nostalgic and breathlessly fresh and new: an effect that some have referred to as his 'savante simplicité'.

Fauré's schooling differed from most of his contemporaries in that he never studied at the Conservatoire, but rather, spent eleven years (1854-1865) at the Ecôle Niedermeyer, a school whose primary purpose was the training of organists and choirmasters. At the Niedermeyer, he was exposed to the ecclesiastical modes (Gregorian chant) as well as to the music of Liszt, Wagner, Schumann, Beethoven and Bach—all of whom were not studied at the Conservatoire. This was also the beginning of a mutually rewarding lifelong friendship with Saint-Saëns. At age 51, after twice winning the Chartier Prize for chamber music, Fauré was appointed teacher of composition at the Conservatoire, succeeding Massenet in that capacity. His students there included Ravel, Koechlin, and Nadia Boulanger, all influential in their own way on succeeding generations of musicians. Nine years following this appointment, he became director of the Conservatoire.

Fauré had a predilection for the smaller musical forms—especially songs, chamber music, and the Romantic forms for the piano (Nocturnes, Impromptus, etc). His music marks the revival of purely French music after a long period of foreign domination in the arts, and his revolutionary harmonic processes influenced many succeeding generations of composers. With Duparc he refined the French song form into a distinct new genre, the 'mélodie', bearing little resemblance to the then predominant German 'lied'. Fauré's compositions are skillful and subtle, relying on technical mastery and frequent harmonic modulations to convey the general feeling of a poem. His music never 'shouts'; it is delicate, interwoven with infinitesimal expressive nuances. Fauré was ambidextrous and tended to place equal weight and importance to both hands in his piano compositions. His piano solo works and piano accompaniments to songs tend toward a feeling of orchestral fullness, often readily adaptable to string quartet and quintet arrangements. In fact, he himself (in 1898) arranged his well known song cycle 'La Bonne Chanson' for string quintet, though he later regretted the added texture as redundant, much preferring the simple piano accompaniment.

Copyright © 2005 Amelia Seyssel

Enrique Granados was born in the Catalan city of Lérida in Spain, and began his piano studies with Francesc Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol in Barcelona. In 1883 he began studying composition with Felipe Pedrell. Subsequently, from 1887 to 1889, he took private lessons from Charles Bériot in Paris. Returning to Barcelona in 1889, Granados gave some recitals and had some of his compositions successfully performed, but most of his time was spent teaching at his music school, the Academia Granados, which he established in Barcelona in 1901. In 1911, his recognition as a composer was permanently established with the success of his piano suite Goyescas. Granados is principally known for his compositions for piano and, along with Albéniz, is credited with being the creator of the Catalan piano school which is characterized by "an emphasis on clarity, color, and a mastery of the pedals."

Granados's compositions are less flamboyantly nationalistic than Albéniz and rely for their inspiration on early Romantic models. His best pieces show a sensitivity and simplicity along with a tendency to be less highly decorative than most assume Spanish nationalistic music to be. Granados was a remarkable pianist; his song accompaniments are exceptional in their partnering of the voice, using figures derived from the national accompanying instrument of Spain, the guitar. The spontaneity and brilliance of these accompaniments combine fine piano technique and style with a melodic line rooted in Spanish vocal idioms. Granados's song style and treatment of the piano influenced the vocal music of Falla, his younger contemporary, and of Turina; all used piano figures that imitate techniques of guitar performance: arpeggiated chords, fast repeated chords (rasgueados), and repeated notes (punteado). His reputation has, until recently, rested almost solely on his numerous compositions for the piano. Granados was essentially a miniaturist; his music is full of finely crafted details, and his mature stage works seem to be a series of cameos. His songs share an abundance of delicate musical touches.

Granados wrote a number of songs, among them what he called tonadillas escrito en estilo antiguo ('tonadillas written in the old style'). These he composed with texts by his librettist, Fernando Periquet, evoking the 'majas' and 'majos' of Goya's time, intending each of them to be a kind of romantic song associated with eighteenth century Madrid. By this very nature, he envisioned them as being accompanied by guitar, and his piano accompaniments inevitably reflect guitar figurations. More sophisticated than the tonadillas, his Canciones Amatorias tend to more subtlety and are more inward looking. They embody much less of a folk flavor and much more of the mark of an international caliber composer. Their beauty and sophistication bear witness to the true tragedy of Granados's early death.

Copyright © 2005 Amelia Seyssel

Born in León Quanajuato, Mexico as María Joaquina de la Portilla Torres, María Grever is credited with 850 songs, 18 of which have remained enduringly popular in Mexico. Although born in Mexico (her mother, Julia Torres Palomar, was Mexican), her father was Spanish and moved the family to Spain for a period of time when Grever was very young. She subsequently traveled all over Europe with her parents and claimed to have received musical advice from Franz Lehár. After returning to Mexico, she studied singing with her maternal aunt, Cuca Torres. In 1907 she married an American oil company executive, Leo Agusto Grever, adopting her husband's surname for all of her compositions.

After 1916, María Grever and her husband lived in New York and, from 1919 to 1939, she appeared in four professional recitals featuring her own compositions. In addition to single songs, Grever wrote what she called 'song dramas'. Among these are her one-act drama The Gypsy (1927) and her miniature opera El cantarito (1939). For most of her songs and operas, Grever also wrote her own Spanish lyrics, with English lyrics being provided by various American lyricists. Her first international song successes were the songs Bésame (1921), and Júrame (1928). Among her other commercial successes were the songs Te quiero dijiste (1929), sung in the film Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), and Cuando vuelvo a tu lado (1934), revived in 1959 as the song What a Difference a Day Made, a bestseller for singer Dinah Washington.

Grever has been praised for "her innate gift of spontaneous melody." Her melodies are often deeply expressive, her lyrics intimate and moving, and her accompaniments always have character. Her songs have been adapted to many different musical styles ranging from cabaret to operatic; Júrame was popularized by operatic tenor José Mojica and has recently been recorded by José Carreras.

Copyright © 2005 Amelia Seyssel

Born in Elmira, upstate New York, Charles Griffes is commonly regarded as one of the first American composers whose work was both distinctly American and international in caliber. At age eleven, while recuperating from typhus, he expressed a fascination for the classical genre of music played by his older sister, a piano teacher, who subsequently began his piano instruction. By 13 he began studying with Mary Selena Broughton who, after four years of study, recognizing his talent, both recommended and financed his further studies at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. After completing two years at Stern, Griffes remained in Berlin for some further study with Engelbert Humperdinck, during which time Griffes's original intention of pursuing a career as a concert pianist transformed into a desire for composition. At the death of his father, undertaking the support of his widowed mother, Griffes returned to the US and accepted a position as music instructor at the Hackley School for Boys in Tarrytown, NY, a position which exhausted his energies but which he nonetheless kept until his early death. Although he had been composing since his days in Germany, his works were increasingly modern and unconventional making it difficult to find acceptance among publishers. During the last six years of his life Griffes composed his most important works, the most significant being his orchestral piece 'The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan' which was finally performed by the New York Symphony in November 1919 just months before his untimely death from lung and heart problems aggravated by ongoing overwork and emotional strain.

Although he had been composing since his days in Germany, his works were increasingly modern and unconventional making it difficult to find acceptance among publishers. During the last six years of his life Griffes composed his most important works, the most significant being his orchestral piece 'The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan' which was finally performed by the New York Symphony in November 1919 just months before his untimely death from lung and heart problems aggravated by ongoing overwork and emotional strain.

Griffes's early songs from his stay in Germany followed the German Romantic model (Schumann & Schubert) and are settings of specifically German poets. However his style quickly changed to a more impressionistic style when, after 1911, he began setting English text. Overall, his songs exhibit a wide range of mood and style usually divided into romantic, impressionistic, oriental and abstract categories, and using Japanese and American Indian themes as well as oriental scales. Like all good songwriters, Griffes had a gift for integrating the written word with the tonal language of music. His songs are both lyrical and luxurious, tapping into a wide range of poetry and literature, inclining toward a musical language that is descriptive and pictorial. As his style developed and as he searched more and more for his unique 'voice', Griffes inclined toward more exotic and modern poetry, producing songs that critics of his day labeled 'ultramodern'. His piano accompaniments are generally rich and elaborate, indicative of his pianistic roots. Griffes often accompanied his own works and was fortunate in the quality and intelligence of the singers he was able to attract. His vocal lines generally demand an advanced competence in musicianship and a vocal technique generally associated with mature singers.

Copyright © 2005 Amelia Seyssel

Born into a family of musicians in Vitoria, Alava province, in Spain, Jesús Guridi's aptitude in music was apparent at an early age. His musicality was locally fostered by his family, studying first with Valentín Arín in Madrid followed by his public debut as a pianist in Bilbao in 1901. By 1904, his aptitude had drawn sufficient attention that, with the support of the Count of Zubiría, he was sent to further his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Paris where, in addition to piano and organ, he studied counterpoint and fugue with d'Indy and composition with Sérieyx. He further supplemented his studies in Brussels (1906) with Leo Jongen in organ, and in Cologne (1908) with Otto Neitzel in instrumentation. Returning to Bilbao, he worked as organist in several churches, gaining a reputation for excellence in improvisation, and maintaining a professorship at the Academia Bilbaína de Música (later the Bilbao Conservatory). In 1939, he moved permanently to Madrid as the chair of harmony at the Madrid Conservatory, in 1955 becoming its director. In 1945 he became a member of the Academía de Bellas Artes. Guridi ranks with Falla and Turina as one of the most important composers of that generation, one of a group of Spanish composers later referred to as the "Maestros" for their role in laying the groundwork for a truly Spanish nationalist musical sound.

Inspired by Basque folk music during his stay in Bilbao, Guridi devoted himself to writing music rooted in the Basque tradition rather than in the music of Andalusia as did Falla and Granados. This element contributed to Guridi's unique sonorities as compared to other more internationally-known Spanish composers. It also meant that, because of the suppression of all things Basque under the Franco regime, his music did not immediately reach the level of international recognition achieved by other Spanish composers of his generation. Nonetheless, his zarzuela El Casério (1926), based on Basque themes, was immediately successful, its excellence keeping it solidly in the repertoire to this day, and his symphonic work Diez melodías vascas (1940) has been a favorite on Spanish programs since its debut in 1941. Of his songs and song-cycles, including three song-sets in native Basque, by far the most well-known and performed are his Seis canciones castellanas (1939) and Seis canciones infantiles (1946). His Basque roots, combined with his own tendency to express in his own personal musical language, set Guridi's style apart from other Spanish composers. His music inevitably reflects his own unique style with a color rooted in a strongly Basque heritage. Particularly beautiful of all his songs, and a favorite of Spanish divas, is the hauntingly beautiful No quiero tus avellanas from his Seis canciones castellanas.

Copyright © 2005 Amelia Seyssel