Announcing Enrique Granados’ Intermezzo from Goyescas

arranged for Cello Choir by Michele Galvagno

This article is an expanded version of the Editorial Notes that can be found in the published edition, available at this link. A scrolling-score video of this piece in its two versions can be watched here.

Editorial Notes

Goyescas, an opera in one act and three tableaux by Spanish composer Enrique Granados (1867–1916), saw the light in 1915, based on the libretto by Fernando Periquet y Zuaznaba and based on melodies taken from the eponymous Suite for piano solo written by Granados himself four years before.

The Intermezzo between the first and second tableaux is undoubtedly the most famous excerpt of the opera. It is important to note, however, that it was not present in the beginning, at least not in this form. An orchestral intermezzo was originally there to divide the two tableaux, but it had nothing to do with the one we know presently. The Schirmer edition of the full score and of the piano reduction, published in 1915, includes only the first version of the Intermezzo.

To solve the mystery, we need to jump forward in time a little: on January 28, 1916, the opera is premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, featuring the version of the Intermezzo we have, most likely substituting the original forever.

A footnote in the Schirmer edition for piano solo called “Intermezzo from the opera “Goyescas” arranged for the pianoforte by the composer”, published in 1916, states the following:

This Intermezzo was especially composed for the first performance of “Goyescas” at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, January 28, 1916; it is not included in the original score.

After this date, several arrangements of the Intermezzo have been realised, possibly the most well-known being the one by Gaspar Cassadó (1897–1966) for cello and piano, published—always by Schirmer—in 1923.

The decision to publish a version for cello orchestra comes from my personal experience as a student of prof. Marcio Carneiro in Sion, Switzerland, when an adaptation for cello solo and cello choir of the version by Cassadó for cello and piano was proposed during the academic year. That version was published in 2018, and will remain available digitally upon request.

The present revision, instead, follows exclusively the original piano part. All inconsistencies introduced by Cassadò were removed, and the solo line has been distributed more evenly among the different voices.

This edition contains a full score and a complete set of parts, free from fingering and bowing suggestions. It requires a minimum of five cellists to be performed. Should more be available, we suggest doubling the lower voices first.

The Editor,

Michele Galvagno

Saluzzo, Italy — April 6th, 2024