Spanish Composers

When listening to music composed in Spain during the late 1800's and early 1900's, one cannot help but become aware of its unique characteristics.
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909) is a noted Spanish composer of this time period. A virtuosic pianist, he gave his first piano recital at the age of 4, and at the age of 7 some say he was accepted into the Paris Conservatory, but then rejected after he threw a rock through a window, others say he was not accepted due to his age. Regardless, he went to the USA for sometime, and by the time he was 15 years old he was travelling all around performing and working with some of the greatest teachers, including the noted composition teacher Felipe Pedrell. When listening to the music of Albeniz such as Triana from Ibelia, you can really begin to hear the unique characteristics of his music. Most notably would be his dance rhythms of Spain, exotic scales and chordal textures, guitar idioms, and his "cante jondo", or intoned musical singing.
Enrique Granados (1867-1916) is another noted Spanish composer of this time period (also a student of Filipe Pedrell). His most famous piece is probably Goyescas (1911) which was later the subject for an opera he wrote in 1914. La Maja y el ruisenor is from this set of pieces and is very music in the romantic piano style. It is extremely lyrical with many beautiful, melodic passages, rubato and exotic harmonies.
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) was also a noted Spanish composer and student of Filipe Pedrell. He is best known for his ballets. He spent seven years of his life living in Paris where he came into contact with Debussy, Ravel, and many other famous composers. His Fantasia baetica (1919) is also one of his more well known pieces. This has an incredibly modern and percussive sound throughout and was actually written for Artur Rubenstein. It has some very strange clusters of tones and an extremely rhythmic feel throughout.