One more source of controversy for Woodrow Wilson:

100 years ago, Enrique Granados was in New York for the premiere of his opera, “Goyescas,” at the Metropolitan Opera. An unexpected invitation to perform a recital at the White House caused the composer to miss his ship back to Spain. As a result, he booked passage on an English vessel. On March 24, 1916, on the second leg of their journey, he and his wife boarded the passenger ferry, “S.S. Sussex,” with the intention of crossing the channel for Dieppe, France. En route, the ferry was torpedoed by a German U-boat, and Granados drowned in an attempt to save his wife.

Just before his departure from New York, the composer made some live-recorded player piano rolls for the Aeolian Company’s “Duo-Art” system.

Granados piano roll of “The Maiden and the Nightingale” from “Goyescas”:

And of the Spanish Dance No. 5 “Andaluza”:

Granados began to write a piano concerto in 1909, breaking off work on it to compose “Goyescas.” He died before the piece could be completed. Six years ago, the sketches were discovered, and a realization of the concerto was recorded for the Hyperion label. The work will finally be heard in concert in Barcelona at the Palau de la Música Catalana on April 21. I recommend taking a plane.

An ironic footnote: one of the Granados’ sons, also named Enrique, was a champion swimmer.