Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 08/30/2005, uploaded on 01/12/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

"Of Love and Death" from Goyescas            Enrique Granados

The fifth work of the set of seven, "Of Love and Death" is the longest and the most complex piece in the cycle.  Granados wrote these pieces after being inspired by pictures by Goya.  I had the good fortune to visit the Prado Museum last year in Spain where they have many paintings of Goya. His earlier paintings are cheerful portraits of beautiful Majas; in his later works known as the "black period" his paintings are dark and grotesque. Granados captures this beautifully in the Goyescas.  The first three works of the set are more cheerful, and the mood changes beginning with the fourth piece, the famous "Maiden and the Nightingale". 

"Of Love and Death" starts with the realization of the death of the Majo.  It is full of chaos, confusion, anger, despair.  The heartrending middle section is the Maja's lament.  The piece ends with the chilling sounds of bells from the other world.    Soojin Ahn

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.