García Lorca, Federico

Spanish poet, playwright, and musician; b. Fuentevaqueros, June 5, 1898; d. murdered during the Spanish Civil War by Franco's Falangests, Granada, July or Aug., 1936. Although best-remembered as a playwright and poet, Garcia Lorca was also an amateur guitarist and singer who set a number of his poems to folk melodies.

Since García Lorca's death, many of his poems have been set to music (notably by GEORGE CRUMB, Maurice Ohana, and HANS WERNER HENZE), and his plays are the basis of many operas, notably Blood Wedding and Yerma.

More importantly, he was extremely interested in the FLAMENCO genre of CANTE JONDO, and with MANUEL DE FALLA and others encouraged its revival.