Federico García Lorca

1919 - 1924

1919
Lorca persuaded his father to allow him to move to Madrid, where he arrived in the spring with letters of introduction for Alberto Jiménez Fraud, the director of the Residencia de Estudiantes, and for Juan Ramón Jiménez, among others. He was reunited with his friends from Granada José Mora Guarnido and Ángel Barrios, who had moved to Madrid before him, and they introduced Lorca to the literary circles there. He often visited the Café Gijón, where the regulars included Ángel del Río, Guillermo de Torre, Adolfo Salazar, Gerardo Diego, Pedro Salinas and José de Ciria y Escalante. Her first lived in a boarding house on Calle San Marcos street, and subsequently on Calle Espejo, until in October he was able to move into the Residencia de Estudiantes, at No. 21 Calle Pinar, in the hills by the racetrack. Here he befriended Luis Buñuel, José Bello and José Moreno Villa, and came back into contact with Emilio Prados. In JUNE he returned to Granada and gave a poetry reading at the Centro Artístico as part of a tribute to Fernando de los Ríos. He met the playwright and stage manager Gregorio Martínez Sierra and the actress Catalina Bárcena, who agreed to stage one of his plays. In SEPTEMBER he meets Manuel de Falla on a visit to Granada. In NOVEMBER, Lorca returned to Madrid and the Residencia de Estudiantes, which would become his regular place of residence in the years that followed. He spent the Christmas holidays with his family in Granada.

1920
El maleficio de la mariposa (The Butterfly’s Evil Spell) opened in MARCH at the Eslava Theatre in Madrid but proved to be a huge flop. Heading the cast were Catalina Bárcena and Encarnación López (La Argentinita), with sets by Mignoni, music by Grieg, and costumes by Barradas. Lorca spent some time in Granada. His former teacher Martín Domínguez Berrueta died. Lorca’s father insisted that he must resume his studies in Madrid, at the arts faculty. Installed once again at the Residencia, on 1 NOVEMBER he took part with Luis Buñuel in a parody of Don Juan Tenorio. The journal España, edited by José Ortega y Gasset, published some of his poems. He began to write the Suites, which would be published in its entirety only posthumously.

1921
The journal La Pluma, edited by Manuel Azaña, published some of Lorca’s poems. In FEBRUARY Manuel de Falla moved to Granada, where he would live until his exile in 1936. In JUNE the printing press of Gabriel Maroto brings to light Lorca’s Book of Poems. In Madrid, Adolfo Salazar praised Lorca in an article about him in El Sol. Lorca began corresponding with Melchor Fernández Almagro, while working on the puppet farce Tragicomedia de don Cristóbal y la señá Rosita (Tragicomedy of Don Cristóbal and Señorita Rosita). Juan Ramón Jiménez published extracts from the Suites in his journal Índice. On the initiative of Lorca, Manuel de Falla and Miguel Cerón, arrangements were made for the Cante Jondo Competition. The first of the poems collected in Canciones (Songs) date back to this period, although they were not published until 1927, and little material from Poema del cante jondo (Poem of Cante Jondo) was published until 1931.

1922
In FEBRUARY, Lorca gave the lecture El cante jondo: Primitivo canto andaluz (Cante Jondo: Primitive Andalusian Song) at the Artistic and Literary Centre, accompanied on guitar by Manuel Jofré. In APRIL he spent Easter Week with his brother Francisco and with Manuel de Falla in Seville, where he met the Cuban writer and diplomat José María Chacón y Calvo. In JUNE he read extracts from his Poem of Cante Jondo at the launch event for the Cante Jondo Competition at the Hotel Alhambra Palace theatre; the contest itself was held on 13 and 14 June, in the Plaza de los Aljibes at the Alhambra, dedecorated by Ignacio Zuloaga. That summer, in the village of Asquerosa, he completed the script for the puppet farce Tragicomedy of Don Cristóbal and Señorita Rosita. Together with Falla and Adolfo Salazar, he planned to take the puppet show from village to village in the Alpujarra area. In SEPTEMBER he manages to pass several subjects in his Law studies.

1923
A puppet show was held at the García Lorca house on Acera del Casino street to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. The programme included the anonymous medieval play Misterio de los Reyes Magos (Mystery Play of the Three Wise Men), the Cervantes-style interlude Los dos habladores (The Two Talkers), and a traditional tale, La niña que riega la albahaca (The Girl Who Waters the Pot of Basil), which Lorca had recently recovered, only for it to disappear again years later. The music was provided by Falla, puppets by Hermenegildo Lanz and stage decoration and production by Lanz and Lorca. He began work on Lola la comedianta (Lola the Actress), a comedy with music again by Falla. With the help of his brother Francisco and his tutors, he finished his law degree (although he never completed his studies in humanities). In FEBRUARY, after an absence of a year and a half, he returned to the Residencia de Estudiantes, accompanied by Francisco, and became friends with Salvador Dalí. He visited Toledo with friends, including Dalí and Buñuel, who has just founded the “Noble Order of Toledo”. In MARCH he attended a banquet in honour of Ramón Gómez de la Serna at the Lhardy restaurant, and in April, again at Lardhy, he attended the Spanish Pen Club lunch. A brief stay in San Sebastián. As in the past, summer was spent in Malaga with his family. He worked on Mariana Pineda and what was to become Romancero Gitano (Gypsy Ballads). SEPTEMBER marked the beginning of the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, which would last until 1930. In OCTOBER, Fernández Almagro sang the praises of Lorca´s poetry in the journal España. In NOVEMBER Lorca returned to the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he made friends with Rafael Martínez Nadal. Christmas was again spent in Granada.

1924
In JANUARY he returned to Madrid, where in APRIL he met the painter Gregorio Prieto. Songs was completed. In JUNE, José de Ciria y Escalante died. Lorca read his Tragicomedy of Don Cristóbal and Señorita Rosita to Jorge Guillén. Back in Granada, he received a visit from Juan Ramón Jiménez and his wife, Zenobia Camprubí. He continued to work on the Gypsy Ballads and wrote the first act of La zapatera prodigiosa (The Shoemaker’s Prodigious Wife) In autumn, after returning to the Residencia, he met Rafael Alberti. Salvador Dalí made plans for his Libro de los putrefactos (Book of Putrid Ones), for which Lorca was supposed to write the prologue, yet the project never got off the ground.