Enrique Granados was born in Spain in 1867, and showed early promise as a pianist. He did not enter a major music school, but received almost all of his musical education privately in Barcelona and Paris. He also took lessons in composition, though his lack of self-confidence was reflected in his first orchestral work being orchestrated for him.

His first major success came in the popular Spanish form of opera, the zarzuala. 'Maria del Carmen' was considered as a masterpiece and established him as a major Spanish composer. He did, nevertheless, continue to earn a living as concert pianist and teacher. His greatest success came with the opera, Goyescas, first performed in New York in 1916. This was derived from a suite of piano works by the same name.

A missed boat, which would have taken him back from New York to Spain, required him to return via England. Sadly his ship from England was torpedoed by a German submarine, and Granados who had been saved, drowned tryin