A collection of piano works composed by Enrique Granados, a leading composer of modern Spanish music.

Escenas Poéticas (Poetic Scenes) comprises, in addition to the three pieces in the first set discussed here, a second set of four pieces: "Memories of Distant Lands," "The Angel of the Monastery," "Margarita's Song," and "The Poet's Dream."

 Although the exact years of composition for both the first and second sets are not definitively known, they are believed to have been written between 1904 and 1907. This period marked Granados's burgeoning maturity as a musician, as he expanded his activities not only as a composer but also as a pianist, conductor, and an excellent teacher.

 The first set was published in 1912 by Casa Dotesio, a major music publisher in Madrid, alongside Libre de Horas (Book of Hours). The subsequent publication of the second set occurred after Granados's tragic death in 1916, during World War I, when the ship he was on, returning from the American premiere tour of his masterpiece Goyescas, was torpedoed by a German U-boat in an indiscriminate attack.

 Born in 1867 in Lleida, a city in the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain, Granados was one of the key figures who led the Spanish Nationalist School alongside composers like Albéniz and Falla, invigorating the Spanish music scene.

 He cultivated a deep friendship with Albéniz, who was seven years his senior, from their early teenage years, studying together under Joan Baptista Pujol, Barcelona's foremost piano teacher, and maintaining their bond throughout Granados's studies in Paris. However, Granados's musicality distinguished him from other composers of the Spanish Nationalist School.

 Like many composers of the Spanish Nationalist School such as Albéniz and Falla, Granados held a deep affection for Spanish folk music, writing works inspired by it, including Danzas Españolas (Spanish Dances), Seis piezas sobre cantos populares españoles (Six Pieces on Spanish Folk Songs), and Danza mora y canto árabe (Moorish Dance and Arab Song). At the same time, he greatly admired German Romantic composers like Chopin and Schumann, leaving behind numerous piano works heavily influenced by Romanticism.

Escenas Poéticas, alongside Valses Poéticos (Poetic Waltzes), Escenas Románticas (Romantic Scenes), and Seis estudios de concierto (Six Concert Studies), is one of the works that strongly reflects Granados's Romantic sensibilities.

This collection embodies a beauty that only Granados could express, combining his Spanish roots with his role as a successor to Romantic music.

1. 'Berceuse' (Lullaby)

Amorosamente, 4/4 time, G major.

 Written in A-B-A ternary form, the piece is enveloped in a consistently tranquil atmosphere.

The opening A section features a gentle lullaby melody and a comfortable eighth-note rhythm reminiscent of a cradle rocking a child.

 Entering the middle section from measure 20, the time signature shifts from 4/4 to 2/4. From this point, the key signature disappears, and the harmony changes chromatically, creating a fantastical atmosphere as if in a dream world. As indicated by the composer's own hand with "ad libitum," it should be played freely, as if in a dream. The beginning of the middle section is marked pianissimo and sotto voce e un poco meno mosso, starting at a low volume, but gradually crescendoing from measure 24, reaching forte by measure 39.

 From measure 44, the opening lullaby melody returns, played quietly at pianissimo, bringing the piece to a beautiful close.

 Pablo Casals, the world-renowned cellist who was a fellow Catalan and a friend of Granados, reportedly said, "Granados is the Spanish Schubert." While Schubert's "Lullaby" is famous, the sweet and gentle beauty of the melody in this piece, as Casals' words suggest, can indeed be called the Spanish version of Schubert's "Lullaby."

2. 'Eva y Walter' (Eva and Walther)

Lento molto espressivo, 3/4 time.

 The title "Eva y Walter" refers to two characters from Richard Wagner's famous music drama Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. ('Eva' is the Spanish pronunciation of Eva; in the original German, it is 'Eva.')

 The story's synopsis is that Eva, the daughter of the goldsmith Veit Pogner in Nuremberg, falls in love with Walther von Stolzing, a young knight from Franconia. However, to marry Eva, Walther must win a singing contest open only to those with the title of Meistersinger (Master Singer), leading to his struggles to achieve this.

 Wagner, who ignited a major controversy that divided the 19th-century classical music world, also saw his influence sweep through Spain in the early 20th century, albeit with a time lag compared to other European countries like Germany and France.

Granados, who attended the premiere of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Barcelona in 1905, was deeply impressed by Wagner's innovative music and composed this piece.

 Within 'Eva y Walter,' numerous new Wagnerian compositional techniques, previously unseen in Granados's works, are employed. These include harmonies reminiscent of the "Tristan chord" (a diminished fifth and minor seventh chord, consisting of an augmented fourth, major third, and perfect fourth from the bottom up), chromatic melodies, and "unending melody" (unendliche Melodie), where the music flows and develops continuously without clear sections or cadences.

 The experience of directly encountering Wagner's works, which inherited the German Romantic tradition and continuously generated new compositional techniques as part of the New German School, was clearly a significant event for Granados. Despite his emphasis on Spanish folk music, he deeply admired German Romantic music by composers like Chopin and Schumann and considered himself a "successor to Romantic music."

3. 'Danza de la Rosa' (Dance of the Rose)

 While the second piece, 'Eva y Walter,' was heavily influenced by the style of Wagner, a representative of the New German School inheriting the German Romantic tradition, the third piece, 'Danza de la Rosa,' strongly showcases the colors of Granados's native Spain.

 The piece begins with a charming melody set to a 3/4 waltz rhythm. After a four-measure motif is played, it is varied with intricate melismatic ornamentation. This type of variation form is often used in flamenco music and is a very characteristic feature of Spanish music. In the left hand, a perfect fifth bass continuously sounds as a drone, creating an exotic and oriental atmosphere.

 After a two-measure meno, the piece enters the middle section, modulating from B-flat major to D-flat major through the use of accidentals. Here, a melody with melismatic ornamentation, reminiscent of flamenco singing, appears, and combined with an accompaniment evoking a flamenco guitar, it further intensifies the Spanish character.

 After a brief six-measure middle section, the recapitulation brings back the opening melody.

In the left hand, alongside the drone bass introduced at the beginning, an accompaniment with flamenco guitar-like ornamentation is added, unleashing an even more vibrant sense of color.

 Entering the Lento section, which serves as the coda, impressive chords are written five times, as if church bells are ringing from afar, bringing the piece to a quiet close.

 Although a simple piece of 32 measures in total, structured in A-B-A ternary form with an added six-measure coda, it is a deeply flavorful work imbued with Granados's distinctly Spanish sensibility.