Although the Spanish composer created works of all genres, the piano was undoubtedly at the center of his oeuvre. Outstanding from his early work are the 12 Danzas espaolas, which appeared in four notebooks in 1890-95. “My inspiration is mainly in the song of the people,” declared Granados. “Yet they do not represent a mere transference, but are quite independent.” Thus, the pieces stand out clearly from the conventional folklore of the time. Rather, they are in the tradition of the character pieces of a Chopin or Schumann, with individual color thanks to rhythmic and melodic borrowing from dances from all over Spain. For this Urtext edition all available sources were thoroughly evaluated, including Granados’ own recordings.