Luciano Pavarotti / New York City Opera Orchestra – Granada

“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 in other languages.

The song has been covered many times. Popular versions include those by Frankie Laine, Jorge Negrete, Mario Lanza and Frank Sinatra. 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 castenets, 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.”[citation

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.