Granada (song)

"Granada" is a song written in 1932 by Mexican composer Agustín Lara. The song is about the Spanish city of Granada and has become a standard in music repertoire.

The most popular versions are the original with Spanish lyrics by Lara (often sung operatically); a version with English lyrics by Australian lyricist Dorothy Dodd; and instrumental versions in jazz, pop, easy listening, flamenco or rock styles. Other versions in English also exist (one with lyrics by Al Stewart, and one with lyrics by Robert Musel and Edward Lisbona) but these are less common. An Italian version was written in 1954 by Enzo Luigi Poletto. There are also versions in German and other languages.

The song has been covered many times. It is Jose Carreras's personal signature tune.[1] Popular versions include those by Alan Seager and his musical family, Placido Domingo, Frankie Laine, Jorge Negrete, Juan Arvizu, Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mario Lanza, Pasquale Esposito, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. It has been sung in Italian by Claudio Villa, and in German by Fritz Wunderlich and Spanish pop-duo Baccara.

The song was much favoured by theatre organists in the UK, because it provided an opportunity for showing off the organ's tuned (harp, glockenspiel, etc.) and non-tuned (castanets, tambourine) percussion.

Because of the flamboyant nature of the tune, and the Spanish lyrics, "Granada" has been accepted by college music courses as an "art song."

Lyrics

Lara's opening lyrics are:
Granada tierra soñada por mí.
Mi cantar se vuelve gitano cuando es para ti.

Dodd's version begins thus:
Granada, I'm falling under your spell,
And if you could speak, what a fascinating tale you would tell.

Some recorded versions

References

  1. ↑ http://arthaus-musik.com/en/dvd/a-z/media/details/Jose_Carreras_Collection_1.html
  2. ↑ Granada Single recording by Juan Arvizu for Victor Records (#30705) on "Discography of Amrican Historical Recordings - adp.library.ucsb.edu
  3. ↑ Juan Arvizu sings "Granada" (1932) on youtube.com
  4. ↑ Granada - as performed by Nestor Chayres - Mexican Tenor and the Alfredo Antonini Orchestra (1946) on archive.org
  5. ↑ El Siglo De Torreon - Nestor Mesta Chayres Biography on elsiglodetorreon.com January 26, 2014
  6. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  7. ↑ Granada - John Serry -Vintage Dance Orchestras No. 239 - Chicago Musette "Granada" performed by John Serry Sr. on youtube.com
  8. ↑ Squeeze Play Featuring the Dynamic Accordion of John Serry performing "Granada" on discogs.com
  9. ↑ Squeeze Play - John Serry performing "Granada" on the album "Squeeze Play" listed on worldcat.org
  10. ↑ "Sergio Franchi Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  11. ↑ "Perla - Granada". YouTube. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  12. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcs83CczziQ
  13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2HVAL1MRJE
  14. ↑ Video on YouTube
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.