The Sonatas are the memoirs of the Marquis of Bradomin, a Galician Don Juan. Where the Spring and Summer Sonatas showed us Bradomin at the height of his powers, we find him now in the autumn and winter of his life, In the Autumn Sonata, Bradomin is called to the side of Concha, an ex-lover, to be with her in her final days. Despite her frail state, their love is rekindled, a fact that is a source of both delight and torment to the pious Concha, and her inevitable death leaves Bradomin, equally inevitably, mourning himself 'like an ancient god at the death of the cult that once worshipped him'. The Winter Sonata finds Bradomin in the icy streets of Estrella, at the court of the pretender, Carlos. Bradomin rekindles an old love affair that, again, comes to nothing. He is gravely and unnecessarily wounded on a mission he is sent on by the King and, while recuperating in a convent hospital, he idly and unthinkingly makes a young nun fall in love with him. Even in old age, Bradomin sows pain and death wherever he finds love. AUTHOR: Ramon del Valle-Inclan (1869-1935) was one of the major Spanish writers of his period. His bohemianism and quick wit, and the success of his novels, plays and verse made him an outstanding figure in Madrid literary circles. Dedalus published Spring and Summer Sonatas in 1997 and Autumn and Winter Sonatas in 1998.
