Spain on Music Theory Print

Adolfo Salazar

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Adolfo Salazar Ruiz de Palacios (6 March 1890 – 27 September 1958) was a Spanish music historian, music critic, composer, and diplomat of the first half of the twentieth century. He was the preeminent Spanish musicologist of the Silver Age. Fluent in Spanish, French, and English, he was an intellectual and expert of the artistic and cultural currents of his time, and a brilliant polemicist. He maintained a close connection with other prominent Spanish intellectuals and musicians including José Ortega y Gasset, Jesús Bal y Gay, and Ernesto Halffter. In his writings, he was a defender of the French musical aesthetic of Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy. He composed over twenty works for orchestra, string quartet, solo piano, voice and piano, chorus, and guitar. While his compositions are significant in the context of the 1920s Spanish musical avant-garde, today his critical writings are deemed of greater importance. He is most known for his insightful commentary and analysis in his eighteen years as music critic (1918-1936) for the Madrid daily El Sol. Biography Salazar was born in Madrid. He attended Madrid University, first studying history but then switching to music. He was co-dir

Alberto Jonás

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Alberto Jonás (June 8, 1868 – November 10, 1943) was a Spanish pianist, composer, and piano pedagogue. Although not much is known about his life, as a pianist he was regarded as a virtuoso on the level of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Moriz Rosenthal, Leopold Godowsky, Josef Hofmann, and Josef Lhévinne. He also ranked among the greatest and most sought-after keyboard pedagogues of the 1920s and ’30s. Life and early career (Madrid, 1868–1886) Born in Madrid to German parents Julius Jonas, a businessman, and Doris Sachse, his musical talents were recognized at an early age. King Alfonso XII of Spain received the young child in a private audience at the Royal Palace of Madrid in 1880 and Jonás was immediately hailed as a prodigy. He initially studied at the Madrid Royal Conservatory with Manuel Mendizábal (1817–1896) in piano (Mendizábal had been Isaac Albéniz’s piano teacher) and Ciriaco Olave in organ, graduating at the age of 12, in 1880. For the next six years he travelled and lived in Belgium, England, Germany, and France studying business, in accordance to his parents’ desires for a career in finance, and also giving some public performances. At this time, Jonás started also to become

Alberto Posadas

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Alberto Posadas (born 1967 in Valladolid), is a Spanish composer. Biography Alberto Posadas was born in 1967 in Valladolid where he underwent his first musical education which he then continued in Madrid at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. In 1988 he met Francisco Guerrero Marín with whom he studied composition and whom he considered his real master. This meeting represented an important turning point in his career. Together with Guerrero he discovered new techniques for musical form creation such as mathematical combinatorics and the fractals. Nonetheless, his determination and constant search for the integration of aesthetics in these procedures led him to employ another “model” of composing such as the translation of architectural spaces into music, the application of topology and painting techniques related to perspective or the exploration of the acoustic features of instruments at a micro level. He explored the possibilities of electro-acoustic music developing, in a self-taught way, through various projects starting with Liturgia de silencio (1995) and continuing with more recent pieces like Snefru or Versa est in luctum (2002). His interest in investigating the application of

Alejandro Román

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Alejandro López Román (born 1971) is a Spanish composer and pianist. Musician of eclectic style, his works cover both current symphonic composition like jazz or film music. Biography Born in Madrid, he studied composition with Antón García Abril, Valentín Ruiz and Zulema de la Cruz at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. From 1991 to 1995 he was awarded scholarships by the AIE (Society of Artists and Performers) for studies of Jazz with Tony Heimer, Jorge Villaescusa and Ricard Miralles (piano), Claudio Gabis, Eva Gancedo and Miguel Blanco (harmony, composition and arrangements, music theater), Bob Sands and Victor Merlo (improvisation and ensemble). He belonged to several Jazz and Rock groups with whom he recorded a dozen albums. He has composed over seventy works for piano, voice, guitar, orchestra, chamber, electroacoustic, and teaching music, modern (jazz, pop) and film music, theatre and dance. He has scored fifteen short films and three feature films. In 2014 he obtained the Doctorate in Philosophy from the Department of Aesthetics, UNED, after completion of his thesis “Musivisual analysis, audition guide and study of film music”, where he analyses the connections betwe

Alex Conrado

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Álex Conrado (born 29 March 1969) is a Spanish soundtrack composer for TV and cinema. Biography Born and raised in Madrid, he has been musical since an early age. At seven he learnt to play the guitar and, at twelve, he and his brother formed a band and composed, sang and performed their own songs. He attended the Madrid Royal Conservatory, where he studied piano, orchestration and composition, and he graduated in 1996 with the Flora Prieto Award in harmony and composition. Between 1991 and 1999, he researched and studied under famous avant-garde composers such as György Ligeti, Helmut Lachenmann, Klaus Metzger, Mathias Espahlinger, Mauricio Kagel, Franco Donatoni, and Brian Ferneyhough. Interested in discovering new musical languages, he entered the field of electroacoustic music. In 1993 he co-founded the Laboratory of Electroacoustic Music at the Conservatorio Padre Soler, where he worked as a composer until 1996. That same year, the CDMC (Center for the Diffusion of Contemporary Music) granted Alex a scholarship that allowed him to research and work in the laboratories of the center. In 1996 he became the director of the Conservatorio Maestro Alonso, in San Lorenzo del Escorial

Alonso Lobo

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Alonso Lobo (February 25, 1555 (baptised) – April 5, 1617) was a Spanish composer of the late Renaissance. Although not as famous as Tomás Luis de Victoria, he was highly regarded at the time, and Victoria himself considered him to be his equal. Biography Lobo was born in Osuna, and after being a choirboy at the cathedral in Seville, he received a degree at the University of Osuna, and took a position as a canon at Osuna´s collegiate church sometime before 1591. In that year, the Seville Cathedral appointed him as assistant to Francisco Guerrero, and he later became maestro de capilla during Guerrero’s leave of absence. In 1593, Toledo Cathedral hired him as maestro de capilla; he remained there until 1604, when he returned to Seville, where he died. Lobo’s music combines the smooth contrapuntal technique of Palestrina with the sombre intensity of Victoria. Some of his music also uses polychoral techniques, which were common in Italy around 1600, though Lobo never used more than two choirs (contemporary choral music of the Venetian school often used many more — the Gabrielis often wrote for as many choirs as there were choir-lofts at St Mark’s Basilica). Lobo was influential far be

Alonso Mudarra

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Alonso Mudarra (c. 1510 – April 1, 1580) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance, and also played the vihuela, a guitar-shaped string instrument. He was an innovative composer of instrumental music as well as songs, and was the composer of the earliest surviving music for the guitar. Biography The place of his birth is not recorded, but he grew up in Guadalajara, and probably received his musical training there. He most likely went to Italy in 1529 with Charles V, in the company of the fourth Duke of the Infantado, Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana. When he returned to Spain he became a priest, receiving the post of canon at the cathedral in Seville in 1546, where he remained for the rest of his life. While at the cathedral, he directed all of the musical activities; many records remain of his musical activities there, which included hiring instrumentalists, buying and assembling a new organ, and working closely with composer Francisco Guerrero for various festivities. Mudarra died in Seville, and his sizable fortune was distributed to the poor of the city according to his will. Mudarra wrote numerous pieces for the vihuela and the four-course guitar, all contained in

Alonso Xuárez

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Alonso Xuárez de la Fuente Fuensalida (Toledo), 14 de abril de 1640 - Cuenca, 26 de junio de 1696, renowned musician of the Spanish Baroque, and a disciple of Tomás Miciezes el mayor in the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales of Madrid. He worked as chapel master in the cathedrals of Cuenca and Seville. The historiographical ambiguity about the nature of this prominent polychoralist persisted until 2011, when Profesor of Music at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, José Luis de la Fuente Charfolé, managed to locate his birth certificate in the parish of San Juan Bautista in the town of Fuensalida (Toledo). En la parroquial de Fuensalida en veintiocho de abril de mil y seisçientos y cuarenta años yo el licenciado Alonso del Caño y Robles, cura propio de la dicha villa bauticé a Alonso, hijo de Juan Bautista y de Ana de la Fuente, su mujer, el cual nació a catorce de abril de este año, fueron sus padrinos el licenciado Francisco Díaz Romo, y comadre mayor doña Maria Romo y Aguilar, su hija, y se les advirtió el parentesco espiritual que contraían con este bautizado y con sus padres, y lo firmé, Juan Ximenez. His works are distributed among the cathedrals of Cuenca and Seville; individu

Ambrosio Cotes

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Ambrosio (Coronado de) Cotes (c. 15501603) was a Spanish Renaissance composer. Cotes was born in Villena, Alicante around 1550 of noble birth. He studied theology with the Theatines of Yecla. In 1573 he was maestro de capilla at the church of St. James Church in his hometown. In 1581 he was appointed maestro de capilla of the Royal Chapel of Granada, in the place of Rodrigo de Ceballos. In 1596 he was maestrescuela in Cathedral of Valencia, until 1600 when he succeeded Guerrero at the Cathedral of Seville. His works were copied and carried to the New World. He died in Seville in 1603. Extant works and editions Like many other Spanish composers of the period, his secular villancicos and canzonetas have been lost. Of the sacred works 25 polyphonic compositions are preserved in Granada, a mass in the Cathedral of Valencia, and a further 3 motets in the Colegio del Patriarca. Four separate pieces without words have been published by López Calo, who believes they are the only instrumental works for church to survive from the sixteenth century. * Lamentations (3 sets) * Officium Defunctorum * Mass * Mortus est Phillipus Rex, a 7 voces * Non in solo pane vivit homo, a 4 voces * Visionem q

Andreas de Silva

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Andreas de Silva (fl. 1520) was a composer, probably of Portuguese origin, who is known mainly from inclusion of five motets in the Medici Codex. Now attributed to de Silva is a madrigal Che sentisti Madonna, misattributed to Verdelot in 1537. Aspects of his compositional style suggest musical training in Spain, France, and northern Italy. He worked under the patronage of the Medici family and was employed by Pope Leo X in Rome, and wrote the motet Gaude felix Florentia for the Pope’s coronation. In 1519 and 1520 his name was recorded as the cantor et compositor of the papal chapel and as the cantor secretus of the Pope’s private chapel. The last record of him was a payment by the Duke of Mantua in 1522, though other sources suggest he was living in Italy by the end of the decade. While not much about De Silva is known, it is clear that he had quite an influence on 16th century music practices. In 1567 Cosimo Bartoli, in his Ragionamenti accademici, described him as a worthy successor to Josquin and as a composer “who taught the world how music should be written.” Five of his motets were parodied by Arcadelt, Francesco Cellavenia, Lupus Italius, and Palestrina. His works showed a m

Andrés Lewin-Richter Ossiander

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Andrés Lewin-Richter Osiander (born 1937) is a Spanish composer of electronic music. Background Born in Miranda de Ebro, Spain, he began his studies in engineering at Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 1955. Seven years later, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to continue his studies at Columbia University in New York to study with Vladimir Ussachevsky, Mario Davidovsky and Edgard Varèse. While there, he worked as a teaching assistant in the Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center and composed music for the film “The Gondola Eye” by Ian Hugo and as a sound engineer at the Alwin Nikolais Dance Company. In 1966 Lewin-Richter founded the Estudio de Música Electrónica del Conservatorio de Música in Mexico City. In 1968, he returned to Spain and established the Barcelona Electronic Music Studio. He then widened his scope by becoming a founding member -together with Josep Mestres Quadreny and Lluís Callejo i Creus- and vice-president of the Phonos Electronic Music Studio in 1973. He has served as artistic and executive director for the music ensemble Conjunt Català de Música Contemporània (1968-1973). Always centering on electronic methods, his work has used tape, other instrumen

Andreu Jacob

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Andreu Jacob Martínez Foglietti (born 18 September 1971) is an international film composer, orchestrator and sound designer based in Norway. He is known for composing original scores for feature films, documentaries and short films, as well as for interdisciplinary art projects. Jacob’s work has been presented at major international film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival (70th and 71st editions). His music combines contemporary orchestral writing, acoustic instrumentation, electronic sound design and field recordings. He has collaborated internationally with filmmakers, production companies and cultural institutions. Early life and education Jacob was born in Barcelona, Spain, and grew up in the El Raval neighborhood. He began his musical studies at the age of nine at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona. In 1995, Jacob participated in his first international jazz festivals in Poland, performing at the 13th edition of Jazz na Kresach in Zamość and at the 10th International Jazz Festival “Solo–Duo–Trio” in Kraków. In 2000, Jacob won a composition competition held in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Caree

Anna Bofill Leví

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Anna Bofill Leví (; born 25 April 1944 in Barcelona) is a Catalan Spanish pianist, architect and composer. Life Anna Bofill Leví was born on 25 April 1944 in Barcelona, Spain, daughter of Catalan Emilio Bofill y Benessat, and Maria Levi, a Venetian of Jewish origin. Her brother was architect Ricardo Bofill. She has two daughters and is married to María Cinta Montagut, a Spanish female writer. She studied piano and music theory with Jordi Albareda, Xavier Montsalvatge, Josep Cercós and Josep Mestres Quadreny. She also graduated with a PhD in architecture from the Barcelona School of Architecture. From 1963 she participated in the early development of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura (RBTA), the multidisciplinary architecture firm led by her elder brother Ricardo Bofill. She left RBTA in 1981. Bofill continued her studies in electroacoustic music with Gabriel Luis and Callejo Brncic and computer music with Xavier Serra and Sergi Jordi at the Phonos Laboratory in Barcelona. In 1982 she attended the Conference of New Music in Sitges and took courses at the Miró Foundation with Luigi Nono, Joan Guinjoan, and Coriúnn Aharonián. In 1985 she worked at the Centre d’Études de Mathémathi

Anselm Viola i Valentí

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Pere Viola i Valentí, better known as Anselm Viola (Torroella de Montgrí, Baix Empordà, 1738 - Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, Bages, 25 January 1798), was a composer and teacher of music at the Catalan school of Montserrat. He was of the classic school of composition but with an open mind, as evidenced by his Magnificat in seven voices. He entered the Escolania de Montserrat between 1745 and 1750, where he had Josep Antoni Martí as a teacher, who introduced him to the Italian musical style of the time. It was as a novice of the monastery in 1756 where he took the name of Anselm, and once he had done the monastic profession in Montserrat, he moved to Madrid where he apprenticed to José de Nebra, composer of the court. Later he returned to Montserrat where he dedicated himself to musical education at the School (among his students there was Fernando Sor). His musical output consists of numerous sonatas for harpsichord, of clear pedagogical orientation, and of several religious works. Also worth mentioning are the 18 studies for bassoon solo and, above all, his concerto for bassoon and orchestra, one of the most important of the time for the instrument. He was the author of several

Antón García Abril

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Antón García Abril OAXS (19 May 1933 – 17 March 2021) was a Spanish composer and musician. He composed many classical orchestral works, chamber and vocal pieces, as well as over 150 scores for film and television. Biography Between 1974 and 2003, García Abril was head of the department of Compositions and Musical Forms (Composición y Formas Musicales) of the Madrid Royal Conservatory, and in 1982 he was elected a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. In 1994, he was awarded Spain’s Premio Nacional de Música for composition, and in 2008, he was also named a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in Valencia. He died on 17 March 2021, at the age of 87 from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Classical works García Abril composed many orchestral works and chamber and vocal pieces, as well as music for films and television series such as El hombre y la Tierra, Fortunata y Jacinta, Anillos de oro, Segunda enseñanza, Brigada Central, Ramón y Cajal, La ciudad no es para mí and Compuesta y sin novio. In 1966, he composed the soundtrack for the film Texas, Adios, a Spaghetti Western starring Franco Nero. Also, in 1969, he worke

Antonio de Cabezón

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Antonio de Cabezón (30 March 1510 – 26 March 1566) was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as a performer and was eventually employed by the royal family. He was among the most important composers of his time and the first major Iberian keyboard composer. Life Cabezón was born in Castrillo Mota de Judíos, a municipality near Burgos, in the north of Spain. Nothing is known about his formative years. He became blind in early childhood, and he may have been educated at the Palencia Cathedral by the organist there, García de Baeza. At the time, the country was slowly entering its Golden Age. On 14 March 1516, Charles V was proclaimed King of Castile and of Aragon jointly with his mother, the first time the crowns of Castile and Aragon were united under the same king. After the death of his paternal grandfather, Maximilian, in 1519, Charles also inherited the Habsburg lands in Austria, and later went on to become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and one of the most powerful monarchs in the world. In 1525, Charles married Isabella of Portugal, further strengthening his position in Spain. It was Isabella who employed Cabezón int

Antonio de Literes

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Antoni de Literes, also known as Antonio de Literes or Antoni Literes Carrión (18 June 1673 – 18 January 1747), was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas. As with other national forms of baroque opera, Literes’s stage works employ a wide variety of musical forms – arias, ariettas and recitative (accompanied and unaccompanied) as well as dance movements and choruses, though here mingled with spoken verse dialogue. His use of the orchestra follows French and Italian practice in including guitars, lutes, and harpsichords amongst the continuo instruments. Life Literes was born on 18 June 1673 in Mallorca. From 1693, after the exile of his predecessor Sebastián Durón, Literes became the Master of the Capilla Real de Madrid, playing the bass viol and soon being accounted the greatest Spanish court composer of his time. He died on 18 January 1747 in Madrid. Zarzuelas His most famous work was Acis y Galatea (1708), to a libretto by José de Canizares, which enjoyed frequent performances in Madrid’s Spanish court and public theatres until at least 1774. After 200 years of neglect it was recorded on CD in 2003 by Al Ayre Español, with an enthusiastic critical response. Another of his best zarzuelas

Antonio de Salazar (composer)

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Antonio de Salazar (or Zalazar) (c.1650–1715) was a Novohispano composer of the Baroque period. Life Salazar was born in Puebla de los Angeles, current Mexico. He was first given the role of maestro de capilla at Puebla Cathedral in July of 1679. This position included skills regarding composition, teaching, and performing. Salazar would give lessons in polyphonic music to the cathedral staff while providing copies of his compositions to the archive. During this time, Salazar was being paid for his composed villancicos and chanzonetas. Salazar composed Latin motes, hymns, and villancicos for special feasts. He also composed lighter pieces including Christmas villancicos, including several in the negrillo genre imitating the dialects and dances of African slaves. Salazar wrote sets for the Assumption (1676, 1679, 1685), Conception (1676), and St. Peter (1683). Motets Salazar’s use of counterpoint within his Latin works is thoroughly developed. For example, his piece O sacrum convivium uses imitation, antiphonal writing, and animated rhythm to create a desirable musical effect. In Quis Deus magnus, the use of contrasting major and minor modes along with initial upbeats form a distinc

Antonio José Martínez Palacios

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Antonio José Martínez Palacios (12 December 190211 October 1936), professionally known as Antonio José, was a Spanish composer. Maurice Ravel apparently said of Antonio José: “He will become the Spanish composer of our century”, however, his music lay forgotten until the 1980s. Career Born in Burgos, Castile and León, Antonio José became a music teacher at a Jesuit school and conducted the city choir in Burgos. The sheer volume of his work (he died at 33) was prodigious. He penned his first composition when he was 14. He was hired as a director of a musical review in Burgos at the age of 18. He wrote extensively for voice in his quest to present the melodies of his native Burgos to the world. His compositions, especially the Sinfonía castellana and Suite Ingenua, put his orchestration on a par with anything at the time in the twentieth century. His most famous work is a sonata for guitar. His harmonic understanding put him in the forefront of post-impressionist composers, and though a disciple of Ravel, his particular voice and choice of medium set him distinctly apart. His chief biographer, Miguel Ángel Palacios Garoz, points out that Antonio José was not only a prolific composer

Antonio Juanas

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Antonio de Juanas (c. 1762 – after 1819) was a composer in Spain and Mexico. The birthplace of Antonio Juanas is known from two letters sent to the Cathedral of Jaén in 1784. He was born in either 1762 or 1763 in the town of Narros, in the province of Soria. He was then educated at the San Felipe Neri Infant School of the Sigüenza Cathedral from the age of eight or nine, remaining for another ten years. It is possible that his teacher was Acacio Garcilópez, chapel master of Sigüenza in the 1770s. In 1780 he was made maestro de capilla at Alcalá de Henares Cathedral at the age of 17. Around the same time, the chapter of the Cathedral of Mexico decided to travel to the Iberian Peninsula to recruit a new chapel master as well as musicians. Antonio Juanas, accompanied by the singers Bartolomé Vicente Lo sada (bass), José García Pulgar (tenor) and Manuel Pastrana (tenor) all signed a contract of employment for the cathedral and traveled to Mexico City in 1791. Recordings * Antonio Juanas: Premiere Recordings of Selected Choral Works; Collegium Mundi Novi, Variant 6, John Austin Clark. Conductor: R. Ryan Endris (Centaur/Naxos, 2018, CRC 3663) References

Antonio Rey

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Antonio Rey Navas (Madrid, born 9 March 1981) is a Spanish flamenco guitarist and composer. He is a winner of several national and international flamenco guitar competitions including the Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba (National Competition of the Art of Flamenco of Córdoba), the Concurso Nacional de Guitarra Flamenca Niño Ricardo (Niño Ricardo National Competition of Flamenco Guitar) and the Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Flamenca Los Cernícalos de Jerez (International Flamenco Guitar Competition in Kestrels, Jerez). Biography Antonio Rey Navas was born in Madrid in 1981 and began his artistic career at the age of ten when he accompanied his father Tony Rey in various tablaos (flamenco venues) in Mexico. A few years later, he made his first tour of Japan with the dancer Yoko Komatsubara. At eighteen years of age, he worked in the company of Antonio Canales and later composed the music for Gallo de pelea for the Nuevo Ballet Español (New Spanish Ballet). Rey composed other compositions, such as “Romeo and Juliet”, for the Antonio Canales which was founded in 1996 by Angel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez. He went on to perform in the capacity of accompanist for singers

Antonio Rodríguez de Hita

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Antonio Rodríguez de Hita (18 January 1722 – 21 February 1787) was a Spanish composer. Life Rodríguez was born at Valverde de Alcalá. He became maestro de capilla at Palencia Cathedral (c.1740-c.1757) and at the Royal Convent of La Encarnación, Madrid. His father, Marcos Rodríguez del Mercado, a schoolteacher at Corpa Madrid, forced him to study at the college of the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares, where he studied Latin, music theory, plainchant, organ and composition. Early in August 1738, he was named second organist in the cathedral and in September was appointed maestro de capilla through open competition. Rodríguez took holy orders later. His earliest known works are the Vespers for 2 choirs written in the old style, 1740. In August 1744 he became maestro de capilla at Palencia Cathedral. In 1747 he was ordained priest and remained at Palencia until at death of José Mir y Lusa, maestro at the Royal Convent of La Encarnación, Madrid. While at Palencia he wrote the treatise Diapasón instructivo (1757) in which he promoted the French and Italian homophonic styles over the old Spanish style. In 1765 Rodríguez was named Mir’s replacement and moved to Madrid in 1765. At this point

Antonio Ruiz-Pipó

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Antonio Ruiz-Pipó (27 April 1934 – 24 October 1997) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist and composer. Ruiz-Pipó was born in Granada, Spain. He studied the piano with Alicia de Larrocha and composition with Salvador Bacarisse and others. The latter part of his productive life was spent in France where, in addition to pursuing his performing career, he taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris. He partnered with his longtime friend the violinist Serge Blanc in duos, trios, and quartets with piano with whom he toured within France, Spain and many other countries. In 1987, Ruiz-Pipó wrote for Blanc a violin concerto for string orchestra dedicated to him. In his youth he played the guitar a little, and this provided him with a working knowledge of the instrument, for which he wrote numerous works; Canción y Danza is his main legacy for the guitar. His music is not consistently tonal, evidenced by a recording by Jean Bruno Dautaner (E. His treatment and harmonization of his thematic material (often deceptively simple-sounding) is sophisticated, and he revels in sharp contrasts of mood and color. He died in Paris, aged 63. Legacy Based on his Can

Antonio Soler (composer)

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Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos, also known as Padre (‘Father’, in the religious sense) Antonio Soler, known in Catalan as Antoni Soler i Ramos (baptized 3 December 1729 – died 20 December 1783) was a Spanish composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras. He is best known for his many mostly one-movement keyboard sonatas. Early life and training Soler was born in Olot (Catalonia, Spain) in the County of Besalú. In 1736, when he was six, he entered the Escolania of the Monastery of Montserrat where he studied music with the resident mestre Benet Esteve and organist Benet Valls. In 1746, when he was only 17, he was appointed Director of Music in Lleida, and some sources say he also exercised that position at La Seu d’Urgell. In 1752, when he was 23, he moved to Castile, having been admitted to the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial for his talents as a composer and organist. His fame soon led Domenico Scarlatti and José de Nebra to accept him as a student, completing his high-level training there. Life at El Escorial Monastery and Royal Court Soler entered the monastery as a novice in 1752, at the age of 23, and took holy orders a year later,

Arturo Cardelús

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Arturo Cardelús (born 1981) is a Spanish-American composer of film and concert music. His scores for films Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles and Dragonkeeper have been nominated for Goya Awards. He became an American citizen in 2019. He studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Música (Salamanca, Spain), Royal Academy of Music, Franz Liszt Academy of Music, and Berklee College of Music. In 2012, Cardelús orchestrated the score for the film The Paperboy. In 2017, Cardelús composed the soundtrack for the animated short In a Heartbeat, which went viral and attracted wide attention. The score won Best Original Score – Animated Short Film at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. In 2019, Cardelús scored the animated feature Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles. His music for the film won awards for best score at the 2019 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the 2019 Málaga Film Festival. The score was also nominated for a Goya Award, a Feroz Award, and a Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Award for best original score and for a Hollywood Music in Media Award and an International Film Music Critics Association Award for best original score in an animated film. In classical mu

Barbara of Portugal

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Barbara of Portugal (Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa; 4 December 1711 – 27 August 1758) was an Infanta of Portugal, and a Queen of Spain by marriage to Ferdinand VI. Life Infanta of Portugal Barbara was the daughter of King John V of Portugal and his wife Maria Anna of Austria. Their marriage remained childless for nearly three years, and thus the king made a promise to God that if an heir to the throne was born, a great convent would be built as a sign of gratitude. Upon the birth of a daughter in late 1711 began the building of the Convent of Mafra. The child was baptised Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa, honouring a number of saints and relatives, and styled Princess of Brazil as the heiress presumptive to the Portuguese throne. She was usually referred to as Bárbara or Maria Bárbara after Saint Barbara, the saint of her birthday, a name never used before among Portuguese royalty. Two years later, Barbara’s mother gave birth to a son, Pedro, and she ceased to be heir presumptive. Pedro died at the age of two, but by that time, the queen had already had another son, Joseph, and hence Barbara never became heiress presumptive aga

Bartolomé Ramos de Pareja

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Bartolomé Ramos de Pareja (ca. 1440 – after 1490), Life By his own testimony at the end of his Musica practica, Ramos de Pareja was born in Baeza, possibly around 1440. Most of the biographical details of his life must be culled from this treatise. At Salamanca he had many debates with Pedro de Osma concerning his musical theories. He moved to Italy in the 1470s, likely due to his treatment by the university. However, another source from 1521 describes Pareja as having “long been dead”, though it is not known whether this is meant figuratively or literally. Ramos de Pareja’s new division was only slowly accepted. Afterwards he worked in Italy, primarily at Bologna, where his theories engendered serious controversy, even polemics, from conservatives such as Franchino Gaffurio. After a long stay there he moved to Rome, where he died shortly after 1521. Ramos de Pareja sought to heal the divide between music in theory and in practice. To this end he sought to render the dissonant thirds and sixths consonant. He proposed the intervals 5/4, 6/5, 5/3, and 8/5 for the division of the monochord, subsequently accepted universally. Less successful was his attempt to replace hexachordal notat

Benet Casablancas

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Benet Casablancas Domingo (born 2 April 1956 in Sabadell) is a Catalan composer and musicologist. Biography Casablancas started to study music in Barcelona’s Conservatory of Music and privately with Josep Soler Sardà and then moved to Vienna, where he attended lessons in the Vienna Academy of Music with Friedrich Cerha and Karl Heinz Füssl. He also graduated in philosophy in Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona (1982) and has a PhD in musicology by the same university. He has always combined composition with teaching and research. Career In 2000, Casablancas published the book “El humor en la música” and in 2002, he was appointed Academic Director of the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu of Barcelona. His “New Epigrams” (1997) represented Spain at the ISMC World Music Days Vilnius in 2008. Also in 2008, the “Seven Scenes of Hamlet” had its UK premiere in a performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and in 2009, his work “Alter Klang. Impromptu for Orchestra” was played by the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, and the Belgian National Orchestra. In the chamber field, the Arditti Quartet gave the premiere of Casablancas’ “String Quartet n

Bernardo Bonezzi

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Bernardo Silvano Bonezzi Nahón (6 July 1964 – 30 August 2012) was a Spanish film music composer and musician who was born in Madrid. He won a Cinema Writers Circle Award for Bendito infierno, and was nominated for three Goya Awards and won one for his work on Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto. He was a frequent collaborator of Pedro Almodóvar on his early films, having composed for five, before being succeeded by Alberto Iglesias. He began his career as a member of the 1980s teen group “Los Zombies”. They are best known for the song “Groenlandia”, which is perhaps Bonezzi’s most famous composition. On the fifth anniversary of his death, the song “Fade to Black” was released as a tribute to him. It was written and recorded by his long time friend, actress, and singer Tres Hanley. Bonezzi was found dead in his home on 30 August 2012. It is reported that his last Facebook post to friends was “I’m fading to black”. Which is where the title of the song comes from. The music video for “Fade To Black” features clips from Bonezzi’s home movies as well as clips with Los Zombies. Filmography *Labyrinth of Passion (Laberinto de Pasiones) 1982 *What Have I Done to Deserve This? (

Borja Penalba

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Borja Penalba Catalá (born 1975 in Valencia, Spain) is a composer, record producer, arranger and musician. He has worked with and for, among others, Feliu Ventura, Lluís Llach, Maria del Mar Bonet, Lluís Danés, Obrint Pas, Miquel Gil, , , Sílvia Pérez Cruz, , Albert Pla, , Elena Gadel, , and . He also was a member of the Valencian rock band Dropo. Main works * Original soundtrack for “3D Flames”, the first 3D documentary about the Falles of Valencia, directed by Paulí Subirà, released at l’Hemisfèric (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències) of València on 27 February 2013. * Original soundtrack for the documentary film “Interior de Paisatge”, directed by Elisenda Trilla. A production by Setmàgic Audiovisual and Televisió de Catalunya. * Original soundtrack for the documentary film “Enxaneta”, directed by Paulí Subirà. A 3D production by TV3. (review:* Original soundtrack, together with Lluís Llach, musical director, arranger and live musician for the http://www.lluisdanes.com Lluís Danés’ show Llits (Beds) * Original soundtrack and sound effects for some flashes or visual poems created by Lluís Danés for the cultural TV show Ànima broadcast by the Catalan channel Canal 33 * Original sou

Carlos Surinach

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Carlos Suriñach (or Carles Suriñach) i Wrokona (; March 4, 1915 – November 12, 1997) was a Spanish-born composer and conductor. Early life Carlos Suriñach was born in Barcelona, Spain on March 6 of 1915. His Austrian-Polish mother was a house pianist, introducing him to music at a young age. He began playing the piano between ages 5–6 and started the formal study of music at around age 10. His father was involved in business as a stockbroker. He did not approve of Suriñach pursuing music and confided in their other son, who followed in his footsteps of business. He said that he was never serious about music but always loved it. Taught by his mother through age 14, he studied piano and music theory at the Caminals Academy of Music. He held conducting posts at the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He studied composition and orchestration under Enrique Morera, who was the director of Barcelona Conservatory. He then went to Madrid before moving to Germany, where he studied in Berlin with Max Trapp and Richard Strauss, taking five of Strauss’ seminars. In 1944, he returned to Barcelona as the new conductor of the Barcelona Philharmonic Orchestra, where his

Carmen Barradas

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Maria del Carmen Perez Jimenez Barradas (18 March 1888 – 12 May 1963) was a Uruguayan pianist, composer, and choral teacher. Life Maria del Carmen Pérez Jiménez was born in Montevideo, the daughter of Spanish residents Santos Rojas and still life painter Antonio Pérez Giménez Barradas. She first studied with Antonio Frank, but ended the study after her father died in 1898. With support from friends and family, she later continued with Aurora Pablo and M. Lopes Vicente at the Conservatorio del Uruguay, receiving her diploma in 1915. Following the example of her younger brother, the painter Rafael Barradas, she adopted the stage name Carmen Barradas. Her youngest brother was writer and poet Antonio De Ignacios. After World War I, Rafael Barradas found he was unable to return from Spain to Uruguay, so in 1916 Barradas’ family moved to Spain. The family struggled to get there, having to apply for entry as laborers. Once in Spain, Carmen and her mother supported themselves by making toys. However, Carmen also developed as a composer and actively participated in the artistic life of Barcelona. In 1917, she gave a concert of her own works. Barradas lived and composed in Spain until 1922,

Carmen Karr

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Carme Karr i Alfonsetti (Spanish, Carmen Karr; Barcelona, 16 March 1865 – 29 December 1943) was a Spanish Catalan feminist, journalist, writer, musicologist and song-composer. Karr was one of the most ardent Catalan feminists of the early 20th century, together with Dolors Monserdà with whom she collaborated. Her feminist philosophy, which promoted giving women the necessary tools for a profession, as well as equal rights, was frequently a subject in the journal Feminal, which she edited from 1907 to 1917. She frequently signed articles with the pseudonym Joana Romeu. She also wrote for Diario de Barcelona, La Veu de Catalunya, Or y Grana,(1906–1907, where she promoted Catalan solidarity), Ofrena (1916–17), La Mainada (1922–23), La Actualidad, Día Gráfico and Las Provincias of Valencia, where she sometimes used the pseudonym Xènia in reference to the name Xènius used by Eugenio d’Ors, with whom she argued in Joventut. Biography Carme Karr’s father was a French engineer and diplomat in Catalunya and her mother, who was Italian, died when Karr was an infant. She was the niece of the French novelist Alphonse Karr. She was raised between Barcelona and Perpignan at schools run by the Do

Claudio S. Grafulla

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Claudio S. Grafulla (1812–1880) was a composer in the United States during the 19th Century, most noted for martial music for regimental bands during the early days of the American Civil War. Biography Grafulla was born on October 31, 1812 on Menorca, an island off the coast of Spain that was occupied by the British after the Napoleonic Wars. At the age of 28, he emigrated to the United States, where he became a French horn player in Napier Lothian’s New York Brass Band in New York City. This band was attached to the 7th Regiment of the New York National Guard, which was honored in 1922 by John Philip Sousa’s The Gallant Seventh march. In 1860, he added woodwinds to a reorganized band and continued to serve as its director until his death at New York on December 2, 1880. Grafulla was a quiet, unassuming man who never married; his whole life centered on his music. His remarkable technical and musical skills allowed him to become well known as a composer, often writing music to order, and as an arranger. As a director of the 7th Regiment Band, his fame spread widely. Grafulla was a member of William Magear “Boss” Tweed’s exclusive Americus Club. He performed regularly at Americus Clu

Conrado del Campo

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Conrado del Campo y Zabaleta (28 October 1878 – 17 March 1953) was a Spanish composer, violinist and pedagogue. Career Del Campo was born in Madrid. He became professor at the Madrid Royal Conservatory in 1915, where he was an influential teacher. Among his pupils were Salvador Bacarisse, Julián Bautista, and Fernando Remacha. His compositions were played in the Theatre Real of Madrid for José María Alvira. His opera Lola la Piconera made its debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 12 December 1952. He was also the principal conductor of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. Del Campo was a major figure in the conservative musical climate during the period of rule by Francisco Franco, writing in a late Romantic style. He died in Madrid aged 74. Selected works Symphonic works Del Campo’s characteristic symphonic music takes the form of evocative tone poems. * Ante las ruinas (Before the Ruins, 1898) * La dama de Amboto (The Lady of Amboto, 1901) * Two Parts from the Divina Commedia ** Prologue (1908) ** Inferno (1910) * Bocetos castellanos (Castilian Sketches, 1911) * Granada, a symphonic poem (1913) * Fantasía sobre temas del Maestro Chapí (Fantasy on themes of Master Chapi, 1913)

Constancio Hernáez

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Constancio Hernáez Marco (born 1957) is a Spanish composer. Constancio Hernáez Marco was born in Madrid in 1957, and studied piano, harmony, counterpoint, composition and voice. In addition, he holds a degree in economics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He is an active participant in the development and promotion of contemporary music in Madrid, and is a member and co-founder of Ars Voluptas and the Tres Cantos International Contemporary Music Festival. He is also involved with the Madrid Contemporary Music Festival (COMA). Constancio Hernáez’s oeuvre ranges from solo works to chamber music, and his music for voice and strings has been premiered by prestigious musicians at the Juan March Foundation, the Círculo de Bellas Artes, the Ateneo de Madrid, the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the Gran Teatro in Havana, Cuba (2004), the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (2004), Il Novecento e la Voce Villorba, Italy (2007), the Cervantes Institute, Utrecht, Holland (2008), the 13th Classics Ribagorza Festival in Huesca, the 27th Religious Polyphonic Choir Festival, Segorbe, Valencia, the Palacio del Teatro Lírico Nacional in Cuba (2011), the Tres Cantos Auditorium and the Madr

Cristóbal de Medrano

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Cristóbal de Medrano (b. 1561 – d. 1597) was a noble from the House of Medrano, a Basque-Spanish composer, organist of the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada in Llerena, and Maestro de capillo of the Badajoz Cathedral and Church of San Juan Bautista in Marchena. He is the author of the Missa voce mea cum sex vocibus manuscript, published by Antonio Baciero in 1594. Life Cristóbal de Medrano most likely was born in Seville during the reign of Philip II of Spain. Cristóbal belonged to the noble House of Medrano, an ancient family under the protection of the Monarchs of Spain. Cristóbal identified himself as a “Cantabren” in his Missa Voca Mea manuscript. Medrano was under the patronage of the Archbishop of Seville, Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, great-uncle of Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, Count of Lemos. Early career He was a musician in the private music chapel of Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, who at that time was the metropolitan archbishop of Seville. Castro was an important patron of the Spanish Renaissance, from the family of the Count of Lemos. In 1583, Cristóbal de Medrano appears as the organist of the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada in Llerena. In mid-1585, he succ

Cristóbal de Morales

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Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500 – between 4 September and 7 October 1553) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Tomás Luis de Victoria. Life Cristóbal de Morales was born in Seville and, after an exceptional early education there, which included a rigorous training in the classics as well as musical study with some of the foremost composers, he held posts at Ávila and Plasencia. All that is known about his family is that he had a sister, and that his father died prior to his sister’s marriage in 1530. Others who lived in Seville are considered to be potential relatives of Morales. These include Cristóbal de Morales, a singer employed by Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1504; Alonso de Morales, treasurer of the cathedral in 1503; Francisco de Morales (d. 1505), a canon; and Diego de Morales, who was the cathedral notary in 1525. Earlier Spanish popes of the Borja family held a long tradition of employing Spanish singers in the papal chapel’s choir. This had a significant effect on Morales’ success. Starting in 1522, there are three different occurrences where a Cristóbal de Morales was indicated to be an organ

Cristóbal Halffter

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Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina (24 March 1930 – 23 May 2021) was a Spanish classical composer. He was the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter, and is regarded as the most important Spanish composer of the generation of composers designated the Generación del 51. Early years Halffter was born in Madrid, but in 1936 the family moved to Velbert, Germany, to escape the Spanish Civil War. They returned to Madrid in 1939, and Halftter studied with Conrado del Campo at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, graduating in 1951. He continued his studies, outside of his university education, with Alexandre Tansman and André Jolivet in Paris. Career In 1955, Halffter was appointed conductor of the Falla orchestra. He forged a successful career as composer and conductor, writing music which combined a traditional Spanish element with avant-garde techniques. His neoclassical Piano Concerto (1953) won the National Music Prize in 1954. In 1961 he became Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, where he became Director in 1964 but remained only until 1966. Among his notable pupils are Jean-Luc Darbellay, David Philip Hefti, and . During the 1960s and 1970s,

Cristóbal Oudrid

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Cristóbal (Carlos Domingo Romualdo y Ricardo) Oudrid y Segura (, 7 February 1825 – 13 March 1877) was a Spanish pianist, conductor, and composer. He is noted for his many contributions to the formation and development of the zarzuela genre in Spain during the second half of the 19th century. He was a gifted musician—but with little technical knowledge, which he bragged about to receive more credit from others with relation to his creations. This habit earned him the scathing criticism of people like Antonio Peña y Goñi who, nevertheless, praised the bright, sensual and cheerful ease with which Oudrid used to bring to life the true meaning of the Spanish song. During a successful career of more than 25 years, Oudrid produced over a hundred works, many in association with other composers. His first musical presentation was the Andalusian zarzuela La Venta del Puerto o Juanillo El Contrabandista, premiered at Teatro del Príncipe in 1846. His second venture was La Pradera del Canal, a collaborative work with composers Luis de Cepeda Baranda and Sebastián Iradier, premiered at Teatro de la Cruz in 1847. As a founding father of Spanish musical nationalism, he was instrumental in bringing

Daniel Diaz (musician)

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for living artists, for dead –> birth_place = death_date = death_place = resting_place = resting_place_coordinates = education = alma_mater = known_for = notable_works = style = Jazz, World, Experimental, Soundtrack movement = spouse = awards = elected = patrons = memorials = website = module = Daniel Díaz Fernández is an Argentinian bass player multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and composer known for his work for films and television, along with his fusion of different styles and genres of Argentinian music, jazz and experimental music. Career Since moving to France he has collaborated with Juan Carlos Cáceres, on the single Tango Negro, and on the album Toca Tango. Cáceres mentions Diaz in his song “Los Muchachos de París” with the lyrics: “Daniel Diaz y el barba, los muchachos de París.” After the 2020-2021 pandemic he focused on his composer and studio work, producing collaborative albums with Argentine percussion player Minino Garay (fr), and Chamamé (es) music icon Raúl Barboza (es). His last collaboration with Barboza was on the album Souvenirs Panamericanos, which was released in March 2023. Solo career In 1993 he recorded his first album The Years Alone released by North A

David del Puerto

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David del Puerto is a Spanish composer. Biography Born in 1964 in Madrid, musically trained in the guitar, disciple of Francisco Guerrero and Luis de Pablo in his native city, David del Puerto emerged very early as one of the most talented composers of his generation. At just 20 his name was on the bill at the Almeida Festival in London and shortly afterwards he was commissioned by Pierre Boulez to write a new work for the Ensemble InterContemporain. Since then, his music has been present at the most important concert festivals and seasons in Europe, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, United States, Canada and Latin America, where it has been performed by ensembles such as the London Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nieuw Ensemble, Wisconsin University Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, ONE, Orquesta RTVE, JONDE, ORCAM, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, OSPA, Plural Ensemble, Grup Instrumental de Valencia, Taller Sonoro, Cuarteto Casals… His works have been performed by soloists the likes of Ernest Rombout, Ananda Sukarlan, Miquel Bernat, Ángel Luis Castaño, Manuel Guillén, Evelyn Glennie and Sarah Leonard, and conducted by the likes of Ed Spanjaard, Sakari Or

David Padrós

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David Padrós (1942–2016) was a Catalan composer. Biography He was born in Igualada, Spain in 1942. He studied with Jordi Albareda (piano) and Jordi Torra (harmony and composition). Afterwards he travelled to Germany and Switzerland where he studied with Paul Baumgartner, Sava Savoff (piano), Hans Ulrich Lehman, Klaus Huber (Composition) and Jürg Wyttenbach (contemporary music performance). In 1969 he won the Hanz Lenz prize for the artistic merit (Germany) and the composition prize of the Landis & Gyr Foundation (1976). He lived in Basel until 1982, where he developed an intens task as a composer, pianist and pedagogue. He moved to Barcelona, where he continues with the same professional activities. In 1971 his work “Styx” was performed for the first time in the Barcelona Music Festival. From that date on, his works have been performed in many European International festivals: In Luzern (Switzerland), the “Gaudeamus Muziekweek” (the Netherlands), “Europalia-85” (Belgium) and Barcelona (1987) where his work “Confluències (Música per a Santa Maria del Mar)” was performed for the first time with a great success. Important to be mentioned are the performances of his works: “Metamorfosi

David Vostell

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David Vostell (born 10 October 1960) is a German-Spanish composer and film director. Biography David Vostell was born in Cologne, the first child of Wolf Vostell and his Spanish wife Mercedes Guardado. His father and his father’s art have formed his view of the world from his earliest childhood onwards. The artistics movements of the 1960s and the early 1970s as well as his father’s circle with people as Nam June Paik and Allan Kaprow, with whom he often sat together as a teenager, marked him deeply. From 1977 until 1980 he made apprenticeships at the TV and radio station Sender Freies Berlin, as well as at the publicity agency TBWA in Frankfurt am Main. He worked as an assistant film editor, as a film projectionist, in a photolab, in a photostudio and as photographer. In 1979, together with some of his former school mates, he made 36574 Bilder (36574 Images), an experimental film in Super 8. In 1980 he shot the documentary Endogen Depression about the making of an Installation by Wolf Vostell. In 1982 he shot the short film Ginger Hel starring Mark Eins, founder of the band Din A Testbild, and with the actress Panterra Hamm. The film tells a bizarre love story set in the Berlin un

Diego Ortiz

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Diego Ortiz (c. 1510 – c. 1576) was a Spanish composer and music theorist in service to the viceroy of Naples ruled by the Spanish monarchs Charles V and Philip II. Ortiz published the first manual on ornamentation for bowed string instruments, and a large collection of sacred vocal compositions. Biography Very little is known about Ortiz’s life. He is believed to have been born in Toledo and probably died in Rome, where his trail is lost. In 1553 Ortiz was living in the viceroyalty of Naples. Five years later, the third duke of Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, appointed him maestro di cappella of the Chapel Royal of Naples. In 1565 Ortiz still held the post under the Viceroy Pedro Afán de Ribera, duke of Alcalá. A recent study suggests that Diego Ortiz could have been the model for a very relevant personage in the famous work of Paolo Caliari Veronese “The Wedding at Cana”, based on the instrumental ensemble represented by the painter, the edition date of Ortiz’s second book Musices liber primus in Venice, the repeated confusions and misattributions about this person in the literature down to the present, and the striking resemblance of the painted character with the only known e

Diego Pisador

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Diego Pisador (1509/10? – after 1557) was a Spanish vihuelist and composer of the Renaissance. Life Little is known of the details of Pisador’s life, not even the exact dates of his birth and death. It is known that he was born in Salamanca around the years 1509 or 10. He was the oldest son of Alonso Pisador and Isabel Ortiz, who married in 1508. Ortiz’s father, Alfonso III of Fonseca, Archbishop of Santiago, was a great patron of music. Alonso Pisador worked as a notary in the audience of the archbishop and, in 1524, he moved to Toledo, following his steps. There he entered the service of the count of Monterrey, possibly Alonso de Acevedo y Zúñiga, who was also a grandson of Alfonso III. In 1526 Pisador took minor orders, but did not continue in an ecclesiastical career. In 1532, his father moved to Galicia following Alonso de Acevedo y Zúñiga as the corregidor of Monterrey. He would not return to Salamanca until 1551, after his wife died in September 1550. He settled in Salamanca in the care of his mother and his younger brother. He had charge of the economic affairs of the family and the position of majordomo/administrator in the city of Salamanca, once held by his father. At th

Dionisio Aguado y García

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Dionisio Aguado y García (8 April 178429 December 1849) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the late Classical and early Romantic periods. Biography Born in Madrid, he studied with Miguel García. In 1826, Aguado visited Paris, where he met and became friends with and for a while lived with Fernando Sor. Sor’s duo Les Deux Amis (“The Two Friends”) commemorated the friendship: one part is marked “Sor” and the other “Aguado.” Aguado’s major work Nuevo Metodo Para Guitarra was a guitar tutorial published in 1843. In the Nuevo Metodo Aguado describes his use of fingernails on the right hand as well as his invention of a “tripodison”: a device that held the guitar and thus minimized the damping effect of the player’s body on the guitar’s back and sides. Aguado’s other works include numerous waltzes, minuets, and other light pieces. The more extended works require a virtuoso technique and left-hand stretches that are almost impossible on the longer string lengths of modern guitars. (See Frederick Noad, “The Classical Guitar”) Aguado returned home to Madrid in 1837 and died there aged 65. List of works *Op. 1 : Douze Valses *Op. 2 : Trois Rondo Brillants *Op. 3 : Huit Petites

Domènec Terradellas

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Domènec Terradellas (baptized 13 February 1713, Barcelona – 20 May 1751, Rome) was a Spanish opera composer. The birthdate is sometimes incorrectly given as 1711. Carreras i Bulbena did extensive research in contemporary documents, such as baptismal records, and found that the correct date was 1713. All his works are thoroughly Italian in style. Career Born in Barcelona, the son of a day laborer, his early musical training is unknown. It has been said that Terradellas studied with the composer Francisco Valls in Barcelona, but Carreras i Bulbena’s research in Barcelona uncovered no evidence of this. On 23 May 1732, he entered in Naples as a student in the . He studied composition with the famous Neapolitan composer, Francesco Durante. Terradellas was one of a group of foreign-born composers who studied in Italy and adopted the Italian style. The reason for this is that Italian opera was by far the dominant genre of opera at this time, attracting composers from all across Europe: George Frideric Handel, Johann Adolph Hasse, Johann Christian Bach (all Germans), Thomas Arne (an Englishman), Josef Mysliveček (a Czech), and Vicente Martín y Soler (a Spaniard). Italy His first work, an o

Domingo Crisanto Delgado Gómez

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Domingo Crisanto Delgado Gómez (1806, Güímar, Tenerife, Spain – 1858, San Juan, Puerto Rico) was one of the most famous composers of the nineteenth century Canary Islands; and first organist of the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in Puerto Rico. Early life He born in 1806 in the town of Güímar on the island of Tenerife. In 1821 he became a cantor in the music chapel of La Laguna Cathedral of his native island. Then he stood out for his talent and wrote numerous scores for the cathedral and the Convento de Santa Catalina de Siena. When Crisanto was a teacher he had among his students the composer Felipe Gutiérrez y Espinosa. See also *List of Spanish composers References

Domingo Prat

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Domingo Prat (17 March 1886 – 22 November 1944) was an Argentine guitarist, composer, and music educator of Spanish origin, considered one of the most important guitarists in Buenos Aires in the early 20th century. Life Born in Barcelona, Spain, Prat was the son of amateur guitarist Tomás Prat Puig. He received his initial musical training at the Municipal School of Music in Barcelona. He studied guitar with Miguel Llobet and Francisco Tárrega from 1898 to 1904. In 1904, he moved to Argentina and established himself as a guitar teacher in Buenos Aires in 1907. There, he spread the Tárrega school. Domingo Prat married guitarist Carmen Farré Ors, daughter of León Farré Duro, who worked with him, in 1909. In 1934, he published the Diccionario de Guitarristas (Dictionary of Guitarists) in a limited-edition of 1605 copies, which is still used today as a reference work. Thanks to his work, he became one of the most important guitarists in Buenos Aires in the early 20th century, alongside Julio Salvador Sagreras. Prat founded a conservatory in Haedo and taught many renowned guitarists, such as María Luisa Anido (from 1914). Prat died in Haedo, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, aged 58. Wo

Edith Alonso

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Edith Alonso Sánchez (born 1974 in Madrid) is a Spanish composer, improviser, pianist, sound artist and academic who has been involved in the creation of an experimental electronic style that incorporates spoken word, musical sound and visual imagery. She has received a number of awards for her work. Life and education Alonso was born in 1974 in Madrid. As a child, she studied classical music and learned to play the piano, and later the saxophone and guitar. Following her thesis defense, she was awarded the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (SACEM) prize. She was also given grants from the French Ministry of Research and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She co-founded Campo de Interferencias, a Spanish non-profit dedicated to promoting sound art in Spain. Alonso, along with Anthony Maubert, developed the musical style Radical dB, a style of electronica that incorporated musical sound, spoken word and visual imagery in 2007. That year, the duo did extensive out outreach to teach others about electronica and Radical dB across Spain. Their outreach included organizing concerts with several musical styles, running interdisciplinary evens with other artist

Eduard Toldrà

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Eduard Toldrà Soler (; Vilanova i la Geltrú 7 April 1895 – Barcelona, 31 May 1962) was a Spanish Catalan composer and conductor. Toldrà played an important role in the Culture of Barcelona. In 1944 he founded the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra at the Palau de la Música Catalana, where his deputy in 1957 was his friend Ricardo Lamote de Grignon. Toldrà was a regular juror on the Maria Canals International Music Competition. His students included Antoni Ros-Marbà and Xavier Montsalvatge. The personal papers of Eduard Toldrà are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya. Works :translation of ca.wikipedia listing Theatrical * 1924 four musical illustrations for the play de Lluís Masriera: Un idil·li prop del cel o, pel juny, carabasses. * 1928 El giravolt de maig – The May Sunflower, comic opera in one act with libretto by Josep Carner * 1951 Oh, Tossa!, hymn for the theatrical spectacle by Joan Oliver: Quasi un paradís – almost paradise. Chamber music * 1914 Quartet in C minor, for string quartet * 1920 Vistes al mar – sea views, for string quartet, later arranged for chamber orchestra * 1921 Six sonnets, for violin and piano. One of them, Ave Maria, also adapted for orchestra * 1931 Le

Eduardo Soutullo

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Eduardo Soutullo is a Spanish composer and filmmaker. He was the recipient of the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s National Prize in Music (composition) in 2023. The jury awarded the prize to Soutullo for “the unanimous international recognition of his music especially his orchestral production, highlighting the premiere in Saint Petersburg of his antiwar cantata “The lament of sunflowers”. Life He began his musical education at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Vigo. Later, he moved to Madrid and to Paris completing his studies in Harmony and Composition with Isabelle Duha (Conservatoire d’Issy les Molineaux-Paris XIII) He has studied musical composition with David del Puerto, Jesús Rueda, (Köln Conservatory), Richard Steinitz (Huddersfield University) and with Cristobal Halffter and Tomás Marco (Villafranca del Bierzo, Spain). He has a master’s degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and has a Doctorat (PhD) from the Universidad de Vigo (thesis about Spanish contemporary music) He has been a professor at the Porto’s Superior School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE) He has been composer in residence at Spanish Academy in Rome in the course 2019-2020 In February 20

Elesky

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Elena Loredo (born 1995), known online as Elesky, is a Spanish pianist, composer, Twitch streamer and video gamer. Early life Elena Loredo was born in 1995 in Gijón, Asturias. In 2001, at the age of 5, she began playing the piano. She later learned the guitar, ukulele, melodica, and ocarina. Loredo mostly plays video game and anime soundtracks. She became known in 2017 on Twitter by playing the Digimon theme, and she also played Animal Crossing, Spyro, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Pokémon Ruby and Ori and the Blind Forest themes, including other Nintendo soundtracks. Loredo decided to stream on Twitch to recreate a musical concert she could not do live. Viewers who watched it cheered her on to continue with more Twitch streaming, until NZXT asked to sponsor her. She sang Cocos film song. She has studied Dramatic Art and has worked as a choir singer at Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo for one year. She has made concert appearances at Cometcon in Asturias, Gamepolis and Freakcon in Malaga, Retro Sevilla, and Fun & Serious Games Festival in Bilbao. Career In 2021, she signed for Giants, a group of streamers and content creators created in 2020 and formed by Cabramaravilla, LittleRa

Eloísa D'Herbil

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Eloisa D’Herbil (also Eloisa D’Herbil de Silva, 27 December 1847 – 22 June 1943) was a Spanish pianist and composer. A child prodigy on the piano, by age seven, she had played before the heads of state in England and Spain. As a child, the press dubbed her “Chopin in skirts” and from a young age, she began composing musical pieces. She immigrated to Argentina in 1868 and continued to write music, becoming one of the first women to write tangos. Early life Eloísa María Dolores Juana de la Santísima Trinidad D’Herbil was born on 27 December 1847 in Cádiz, Spain to the Raquel Angel de Cadia and Joseph D’Herbil. She began her training before her fifth birthday with the American pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk and auditioned with the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. She would remain a devotée of both and often played their music in concert. Liszt praised her ability to play Chopin, causing Viennese critics to dub the child prodigy as “Chopin in skirts”. By the age of six, she had played for Isabella II of Spain. The following year, she played for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor Castle and in June of the same year, gave another concert in England in the Queen’s Con

Emiliana de Zubeldia

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Emiliana de Zubeldía Inda (6 December 1888 – 26 May 1987) was a Spanish pianist and composer. She is known for her piano, choral, and solo voice compositions. Biography Emiliana de Zubeldia was born on 6 December 1888 in Salinas de Oro, Navarre, in northern Spain, and emigrated to Latin America prior to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. She began her musical studies at Pamplona and in 1904 continued at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where she studied composition with Vincent d’Indy and piano with Blanche Selva. She returned to Pamplona at the death of his father in 1909. She returned to Paris in 1922 to continue her studies in composition. In 1928 she toured the America’s including Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Montevideo, Buenos Aires and, in 1930, moved to New York City. Zubeldia met Andrés Segovia and Nicanor Zabaleta in New York in 1933. Both began their careers as soloists and shared Zubeldia’s broadcasts on Radio City Music Hall, giving talks about Spanish music until the summer of 1934. Zubeldia toured the Caribbean and Mexico, and in 1935 she settled in Mexico. After the Spanish Civil War, she took Mexican citizenship in 1942 and, in 1947, moved to Hermosillo, Sonora. She

Emilio Arrieta

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Juan Pascual Antonio Arrieta Corera (20 October 1821 – 11 February 1894), also known as Emilio Arrieta, was a Spanish composer. Arrieta was born in Puente la Reina, Navarre. His Italian musical training led him, under the favour of Queen Isabel II, to concentrate on operatic writing; and though he later composed zarzuelas, he remained less committed to the renascent art form than his contemporaries such as Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, who continued to write in an essentially Italianate style throughout his life. His zarzuela Marina, one of the most popular lyric stage works in the Spanish repertoire, has been produced and recorded both on CD and DVD many times. Arrieta died in Madrid, aged 72. Works Operas *1846 Ildegonda *1850 La conquista di Granata, 3 acts with libretto by Temistocle Solera *1851 Pergolesi *1871 Marina, 3 acts (adapted from the 1855 zarzuela) with libretto by Francisco Camprodón and Miguel Ramos Carrión Zarzuelas *1853 El dominó Azul, 3 acts with libretto by Francisco Camprodón *1853 El grumete, 1 acte with libretto by Antonio García Gutiérrez *1853 La estrella de Madrid, 3 acts with libretto by Adelardo López de Ayala *1854 La cacería real, 3 acts with libretto b

Emilio Pujol

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Emilio Pujol Vilarrubí (or Emili; 7 April 1886 – 15 November 1980) was a Spanish composer, guitarist and a leading teacher of the classical guitar. Biography Emili Pujol was born in the little village of Granadella just outside Lleida, Spain. He began his studies with Francisco Tárrega in 1902, when he was sixteen years of age. At this time, Miguel Llobet was making his debut as a concert artist outside Barcelona. Pujol fondly remembered his first encounter with Tárrega and in his biography of his teacher, he described his mestre in very endearing, romantic terms. During the war years 1914–1918 he did not travel much and mainly remained in Catalonia. In 1918 he undertook his first tour of South America, starting in Buenos Aires. The only major interruptions in his concert travels were his marriage to Matilde Cuervas in Paris, an Andalusian flamenco guitarist, and the period of time he devoted to historical research in Paris into the instrumental predecessors of the guitar. During this period he partnered with the publisher Max Eschig in publishing his “Bibliothèque de musique ancienne et moderne pour guitare” (from 1927), resulting in numerous works for solo guitar by historical an

Emma Martínez de la Torre Shelton

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Emma Martínez de la Torre Shelton (sometimes y Shelton) (15 January 1889 – 1980) was a Cuban-born pianist and composer long active in the Canary Islands. Martínez was born in Havana, and moved with her family to Cádiz at the age of three. After lessons at that city’s Santa Cecilia Academy and with Rafael Toniasi Requena in Madrid, she traveled to Rome for further work at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. She then settled in Tenerife, where she continued her studies with Santiago Sabina Corona. She worked as an accompanist to Néstor de la Torre between 1909 and 1917; she taught at the island’s conservatory, and was otherwise heavily active in the musical life of the community as performer and concert organizer. As a composer Martínez was self-taught; most of her output dates to late in her career, and includes orchestral works as well as chamber music and songs. References

Enric Morera i Viura

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Enric Morera i Viura (; 22 May 1865 – 11 March 1942 ) was a Catalan musician and composer from Spain. Career Morera was born in Barcelona but moved with his father, a musician, to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1867, studying organ, trumpet, and violin there. He returned in 1883 to Barcelona, studying with Isaac Albéniz and Felip Pedrell. Later he lived for two years in Brussels before returning to Argentina. He finally returned to Barcelona in 1890 where he was prominent in the movement Catalan Musical Modernism, with for example the opera La fada (The Fairy) in 1897. He founded the choir “Catalunya Nova”. He wrote books on musical theory such as a “Practical Treatise on Harmony”. Among his students were Vicente Asencio, Agusti Grau, Manuel Infante, Xavier Montsalvatge and Carlos Surinach. His music is generally strongly nationalist in character and forms part of the repertory of Catalan national compositions. He wrote more than 800 compositions, including songs, a requiem mass, lyric works, symphonic works, operas, symphonic poems, and sardanes for cobla. Although he spent some time in Argentina and Belgium, Morera spent most of his life in Barcelona and died there in 1942. The perso

Enrique Fernández Arbós

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Enrique Fernández Arbós (24 December 1863 – 2 June 1939) was a Spanish violinist, composer and conductor who divided much of his career between Madrid and London. He originally made his name as a virtuoso violinist and later as one of Spain’s greatest conductors. Career Fernández Arbós was born in Madrid. After studying violin at the Madrid Conservatory under Jesús Monasterio, he continued his studies in Brussels under Henri Vieuxtemps and later in Berlin under Joseph Joachim. In Brussels he studied composition with François-Auguste Gevaert and in Berlin under Heinrich von Herzogenberg. After teaching at the Madrid Conservatory and in Hamburg, with spells as leader of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra, he became professor of violin at the Royal College of Music, London, in 1894, a post he occupied until 1916. In 1904, he was offered the position of principal conductor of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for nearly 35 years. His many pupils included Maud MacCarthy (later Omananda Puri), the wife of the composer John Foulds. He conducted the first Spanish performance in 1932, at the Calderón Theatre in Madrid, of Igor Stravinsky’s The Ri

Enrique Granados

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Enric Granados i Campiña, born Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916) was a Spanish and Catalan composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Joaquin Malats and other pianists, he was part of the modern Catalan school of piano, initiated by Pere Tintorer. He is known for his piano works, such as the Goyescas suite, on which he also based the opera of the same name. He created a piano school in Barcelona, the Acadèmia Granados, which has produced a long list of talented pianists, with such notable figures as Frank Marshall and Alicia de Larrocha. He died in the attack on the SS Sussex, in the English Channel, when it was torpedoed by the German navy during the course of World War I. He had received the Order of Charles III and the French Legion of Honour. Granados’ personal collection is preserved in the Library of Catalonia and the Museu de la Música de Barcelona, and includes his epistolary collection with letters from Pablo Casals, Enrique Fernández Arbós, Jules Massenet, and others. Life Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña was born in Lleida, Spain, the son of Calixto José de la Trinidad Granados y Armenteros, a Spanish army captain wh

Enrique Llácer Soler

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Enrique Llácer Soler (Alcoy, Alicante Province, 20 June 1934 – Madrid, 11 April 2024), also known as Regolí, was a Spanish jazz and classical percussionist and composer. Life and career Llácer Soler started his jazz career in 1952 in Barcelona’s Jam Sessions while expanding his Valencia and Madrid conservatories studies under Kenny Clarke in Paris and Philly Joe Jones in New York. In 1966 he wrote a drum set method, La batería: técnica, independencia y ritmo. In 1972 he became the Spanish National Orchestra percussion soloist and he subsequently started teaching percussion in the Madrid Royal Conservatory. From then on he focused in the classical side of his career as both performer and composer, but he still was active in the Spanish jazz scene through the 1980s in bands such as Canal Street Jazz Band. In 2015 he received the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts. Llácer Soler died on 11 April 2024, at the age of 89. Compositions * Soloist and Orchestra: Percussion Concerto No. 1 — Percussion Concerto No. 2 — Castanets Concerto op.24 — Coloratura Soprano Concertino op.28 — Violin Concerto op.29 — Drum Set Concerto No. 2 * Orchestra: Welleriana op.25 — Celebration for Robinne op.26

Ernesto Halffter

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Ernesto Halffter Escriche (16 January 19055 July 1989) was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter and part of the Grupo de los Ocho (), which formed a sub-set of the Generation of ‘27. Early years Ernesto Halffter was the third son of Prussian jeweller Ernest Halffter Hein and his wife Rosario Escriche Erradón. He was the younger brother of composer Rodolfo Halffter and the uncle of composer Cristóbal Halffter. Halffter was born in Madrid and studied at the Colegio Alemán de Madrid. He wrote his earliest composition at the age of six, and in 1922 his piano teacher Fernando Ember performed three pieces from Crepúsculos at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid. After meeting Manuel de Falla in 1923, Halffter sent Falla the score of his “Homenajes” trio for violin, cello and piano, which began a long relationship that included composition lessons from Falla. Career Halffter’s Sinfonietta is one of his earliest and best works; it shows the influence of Domenico Scarlatti. Later, he became more nationalistic with Rapsodia portuguesa for piano and orchestra, composed in 1938, during the Spanish Civil War. He wrote music for a dozen films. Perhaps the most noteworthy

Esteban Daza

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Esteban Daza (or Estevan Daça) (c. 1537 in Valladolid – between 1591 and 1596 in Valladolid) was a Spanish composer and vihuelist of the Renaissance. He was one of the last major vihuelists of the 16th century, as the instrument’s popularity was eclipsed by that of the guitar. Daza came from a middle class family, and was the eldest of fourteen children. He studied at the University of Valladolid, where he graduated probably in the early 1560s. There is no evidence that he ever practised a profession, he was able to survive on income from his family’s investments. As revealed by the research of John Griffiths (musician), he lived in his parents’ home until at least the time of his father’s death 1569, although probably until long after the publication of his vihuela music. The last documents that mention in the early 1590s indicate that he was living outside the city wall of Valladolid in a house owned by his brother Baltasar. El Parnaso (Parnassus) is the only known book of music published by Daza. It was printed in 1576 in Valladolid, and contains works for solo vihuela and for vihuela and voice. The full title of the work is Libro de música de cifras para vihuela, intitulado El

Fabián Panisello

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Fabián Panisello (born Fabián Andrés Panisello Cuevas; in Spain, in Argentina; 11 October 1963) is an Argentinian-Spanish composer, conductor, and educator. He is the founding director of the Madrid-based PluralEnsemble and Head of Composition at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid. His works are published by Edition Peters. Education Panisello was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied composition in Buenos Aires with Francisco Kröpfl and later at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Bogusław Schaeffer (earning a Magister Artium degree in 1993 with Diploma of Excellence and Special Prize of the Austrian Ministry of Culture). He further refined his compositional studies through contact with leading composers including Elliott Carter, Franco Donatoni, Brian Ferneyhough, and Luis de Pablo. In parallel, he pursued conducting studies with Peter Eötvös and Jorma Panula. Career Composer Panisello has received commissions from orchestras, ensembles, and festivals worldwide. His works have been performed by ensembles and orchestras including the SWR Symphonieorchester, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orche

Federico Chueca

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Pío Estanislao Federico Chueca y Robres (5 May 1846 – 20 June 1908) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas and author of La gran vía along with Joaquín Valverde Durán in 1886. He was one of the most prominent figures of the género chico. Career Born in Madrid, Chueca entered the conservatory at eight years old, but his family later obligated him to abandon music to study medicine. He was arrested in 1866 as a participant in the student demonstrations against the Narváez government. While he spent three days in the prison of San Francisco in Madrid, he composed several waltzes that he entitled Lamentos de un preso (“Lamentations of a Prisoner”). Later, Francisco Asenjo Barbieri helped orchestrate and direct the works, and their success helped Chueca leave medicine and devote himself once more to music. He worked as a pianist and directed the orchestra of the Teatro Variedades. He is considered a self-taught musician. In fact, he was more schooled in the sciences than in music, however Chueca had an intuitive talent and grace with melody and rhythm that produced many works. He worked with several collaborators like Barbieri, Tomás Bretón, and especially Valverde, in many of his works. W

Federico Mompou

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Frederic Mompou Dencausse (; 16 April 1893 – 30 June 1987), or Federico Mompou, was a Catalan composer and pianist. Life Early years Mompou was born in Barcelona to the lawyer Frederic Mompou and his wife, Josefina Dencausse, who was of French origin. His brother Josep Mompou (1888–1968) became a painter. His sketch of a simple farmhouse appeared on the covers of all of Frederic’s published music. Mompou studied piano under Pedro Serra at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu before going to Paris to study at the Conservatoire de Paris, which was headed by Gabriel Fauré. Mompou had heard Fauré perform in Barcelona when he was nine years old, and his personal financial situation was often dire enough to lead him away from music and into various business ventures, including an attempt to revive the traditional family bell foundry. In 1957, aged 64, Mompou married the pianist Carme Bravo, who was 30 years his junior. It was the first marriage for both of them, and they had no children. Later years In 1975 and 1976, Mompou was a jury member for the first Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition. In Barcelona, he became a member of the Royal Academy of Sant Jordi;

Federico Moreno Torroba

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Federico Moreno Torroba (3 March 189112 September 1982) was a Spanish composer, conductor, and theatrical impresario. He is especially remembered for his contributions to the classical guitar repertoire, becoming one of the leading twentieth-century composers for the instrument. In addition to his vocal works, he is well known for his compositions for the classical guitar, many of which were dedicated to either Maria Angélica Funes or Andrés Segovia. Although he did not play the guitar himself he had a deep understanding of the instrument, according to the virtuoso Pepe Romero. He also frequently conducted. Torroba is also the composer of Cuban Boy, the Frank Chacksfield recorded version of which is known as the theme tune for the BBC Scotland comedy show Still Game. Works Operas *La Virgen de Mayo, 1 act (1925) *El poeta, 4 acts (1980) Zarzuelas *La Mesonera de Tordesillas (1925) *La Marchenera (1928) *Azabache (1932) *Luisa Fernanda (1932) *Xuanón (1933) *La Chulapona (1934) *Sor Navarra (1938) *Maravilla (1941) *El Duende azul (1946, with Rodrigo) *Baile en Capitanía (1960) *Ella (1966) Ballets *Fantasía de Levante (1957) *Don Quixote (1970) *El Hijo pródigo (1976) *Cristo, luz

Felip Pedrell

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Felip Pedrell Sabaté (Spanish: Felipe) (19 February 1841 – 19 August 1922) was a Catalan composer, guitarist and musicologist. Life Pedrell was born in Tortosa (Catalonia), and sang as a boy soprano at Tortosa Cathedral from age 9, where he also received most of his musical education from its chapel master Joan Nin i Serra (1804–1867). On 29 September 1867 he married Carmen Domingo, with whom he had one daughter, also named Carmen. In 1873 he went to Barcelona where he co-directed a zarzuela troupe and studied the guitar with José Brocá. As a guitarist, he became deeply influenced by Francisco Tárrega and dedicated several of his compositions to him (Impromptu, Floriada). By this time he had already written over 100 compositions, most of which salon music for piano, some songs, and works for the stage such as the opera L’último Abenzeraggio (first version: 1868), which was performed at the Teatro del Liceo in 1874. Between 1876 and 1880, Pedrell lived mainly in Italy and France: in Rome he discovered his musicological interest, and in Paris he worked mainly in composition, writing his song-cycle Orientales (words by Victor Hugo) and the symphonic poem Excelsior (1880). In February

Fermín María Álvarez

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Fermín María Álvarez (Zaragoza, 1833 – Barcelona, 1898) was a Spanish lawyer, composer, and amateur pianist from the region of Aragon. He is famous for his compositions of música de cámara, or chamber music–especially for solo piano and for voice and piano–as well as for the salon gatherings he held, particularly on the Calle de Fuencarral, Madrid. He concentrated mainly on salon songs, which were often performed along with zarzuela excerpts by other composers. Biography Although he was born in Zaragoza, his family moved to Palamós (Gerona) when he was a boy. There, he began regular musical training. At one point, he took a trip to Cuba, where he was able to meet musicians like Nicolás Ruiz Espadero and Teresa Carreño. After his trip to Cuba, Álvarez moved and settled down in Madrid, where he married aristocrat and skilled amateur singer Eulalia Goicoerrotea. From the moment he settled in the Spanish capital, he was dedicated to the promotion of young artists. He would offer large sums of money to this end. In a similar way he contributed to the monetization of the musical life of Madrid, holding philharmonic salon-like gatherings that became famous at the time. Álvarez’s salons

Fernando de las Infantas

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Fernando de las Infantas (1534ca. 1610) was a Spanish nobleman, composer and theologian. Life Infantas was born in Córdoba in 1534, a descendant of Juan Fernández de Córdoba who had conveyed the two daughters, infantas (hence the surname), of Pedro I of Castile to safety after the Battle of Montiel in 1369. The family was still notable in Córdoba at the time of Fernando’s birth and he enjoyed a privileged education, and later a patrimonio, or stipend, remitted to him in Rome from his family in Spain. From 1572–1597 Infantas resided in Rome, voluntarily giving his services to a hospital for the poor. In 1577 Infantas came into conflict with Pope Gregory XIII and the composers Palestrina and Annibale Zoilo over the reversal of reforms in Gregorian chant, at one point causing his sponsor Philip II of Spain to instruct the Spanish ambassador in Spain to intercede with the Pope. In 1584 Infantas took holy orders and served a small church on Rome’s outskirts. He had returned to Spain by 1608 and presumably died around 1610. Theological controversies From 1584 until his death, Infantas was constantly involved in theological debate. In later life he was embroiled in the regalist and Molini

Fernando Obradors

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Fernando (Ferran) Jaumandreu Obradors (1896–1945) was a Spanish composer. Obradors was taught piano by his mother, but taught himself composition, harmony and counterpoint. He became conductor of the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, and later taught at Las Palmas Conservatory. Between 1921 and 1941 he wrote four volumes of arrangements of classic Spanish poetry, “Canciones clásicas españolas”. He is best known for the song cycle which is volume one. One of the poems, “La casada infiel”, was written by his friend Federico García Lorca. Although he wrote many works for the theatre, none have held their place in the repertoire. His orchestral work “El Poema de la Jungla” is inspired by The Jungle Book stories by Rudyard Kipling. Many of his contemporaries left Spain to find fame in France, but Obradors remained true to his Catalan roots. His first surname is sometimes split into two Catalan names – Jaume Andreu. References External links * * Mondavi Center > Events > Anton Belov, baritone at www.mondaviarts.org * Classical Net Review - Obradors/Rodó - El Poema de la Jungla/Symphony #2 at www.classical.net * https://web.archive.org/web/20060920174942/http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres

Fernando Remacha

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Fernando Remacha Villar (15 December 1898 – 21 February 1984) was a Spanish composer, part of the Group of Eight which formed a sub-set of the Generation of ‘27. Early years Remacha was born in Tudela, Navarre on 15 December 1898. At the age of nine he began to study the violin with the choirmaster of Tudela Cathedral, Joaquin Castellano. In 1911, Remacha travelled to Madrid for the purpose of studying to become a chartered accountant, but at the same time he continued his music studies. He took courses at the Madrid Conservatory where he passed at one time the first three courses of solfeggio, and had private violin classes with Jose del Hierro. Remacha lived in the home of his aunt, Isabel Soriano, who encouraged him to study harmony once he had completed the violin courses. That was how he began his instruction under Conrado del Campo, in whose classes he met Salvador Bacarisse and Julian Bautista, the people who formed the initial core of the Grupo de Madrid together with Remacha. During his period as a student in Madrid, Remacha also played in the Orquesta de Revista y Zarzuela, which performed at the Teatro Apolo and provided him with a wage of twelve pesetas a day. His first

Fernando Sor

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Fernando Sor (baptised 14 February 1778 – 10 July 1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the late Classical era and early Romantic era. Best known for writing solo classical guitar music, he also composed an opera (at the age of 19), three symphonies, guitar duos, piano music, songs, a Mass, and at least two successful ballets: Cinderella, which received over one hundred performances, and Hercule et Omphale. Partly because Sor was himself such a classical guitar virtuoso—contemporaries considered him to be the best in the world On the other hand, Sor’s concert pieces, like the popular Introduction and Variations on Mozart’s “Das klinget so herrlich” Op. 9, belong to the advanced guitar performance repertoire. Unlike modern classical guitar players, Sor used the smaller, slimmer “Romantic” guitars predating today’s familiar guitar standards set by Torres. He used the ring finger of his plucking hand “rarely” and “only for harmony (never for melody).” He eschewed the use of nails on that hand. Variance of name As Sor’s works were published in various countries, his name was translated, leading to variances in its spelling. These included Joseph Fernando Macario Sors,

Francisco Alonso

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Francisco Alonso López (9 May 1887 – 18 May 1948) was a Spanish composer of popular theatre music and zarzuelas. Alonso’s music is funny, cheerful, easy melody and with a popular accent. He excelled in pasodobles and chotis, which he impressed with grace and ease. Many of his works are still highly valued, as the pasacalle Los Nardos, the chotis El Pichi, both from Las Leandras, the chotis Tabaco and cerillas from the revue Las de Villadiego or the song Maitechu mía (both with lyrics by Emilio González del Castillo). He wrote also two pasodobles for fiestas in the city of Alicante, Les Fogueres de Sant Joan, titled La festa del poble, premiered in 1934, and La Nit de San Joan 1934, a pasodoble foguerer for band, chorus and bass soloist. He also was elected president of the General Society of Authors of Spain. Childhood and early youth Francisco Alonso was born in Granada, where he received his early education from the Piarists. As the son of a pianist, Alonso was interested in music from early childhood. His mother supported him when, unable to overcome the dissection classes , he abandoned a career in medicine for musical studies. He studied music initially with Antonio Segura, an

Francisco Asenjo Barbieri

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Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (August 3, 1823 - February 19, 1894) was a Spanish clarinetist, composer, and musicologist. Barbieri was a well-known composer of zarzuelas. He has been referred to as the “most important of all nineteenth-century composers" of the genre. Some of his most well known works in the genre include El barberillo de Lavapiés, Jugar con fuego, and Pan y toros. Early life Asenjo Barbieri was born on August 3, 1823 in Madrid as Francisco Asenjo to his father José Asenjo, a cabinet runner, and his mother Petra Barbieri. His father died in the Spanish Civil War when he was young, so he was primarily raised by his mother and his maternal grandfather. He would later take on his mother’s last name of Barbieri. As a child, Barbieri would frequent the Teatro de la Cruz, the theater his grandfather managed. It was here that he was exposed to much of the music that would influence him in his later career. During this time, Barbieri was taught solfège by José Ordóñez Mayorito, a professor at his grandfather’s theater. Originally as a young teenager Barbieri considered being a physician, but avoided the career due to an aversion to examining cadavers. At the behest of his step

Francisco Coll García

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Francisco Coll (born in 1985 in Valencia) is a Spanish composer. Biography Francisco Coll studied trombone at the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatoire of Music in Valencia and the Madrid Royal Conservatory, graduating with the Honour Prize. He studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Richard Baker with the support of the Instituto Valenciano de la Música (IVM) Scholarship and the Guildhall Trust, and privately with Thomas Adès. He completed a master’s degree in composition with distinction in 2010, winning the Ian Horsburgh Memorial Prize for the best postgraduate composition, and currently is a Fellow at Guildhall. His first commission, “…Whose name I don’t want to remember” (2005) for double brass quintet, was premiered in Avery Fisher Hall of the Lincoln Center of New York, by Canadian Brass and the brass section of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He won the Montserrat 2006 International Week of Chamber Music Prize with El juego lúgubre for two pianos and in the following year the National Award “Valencia Crea” with La Ciudad Paranoica for ensemble of 10 players. He won the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE)’s 2008 “Carmelo A. Bernaola” Priz

Francisco Correa de Arauxo

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Francisco Correa de Araujo (or Arauxo, or Acebedo) (1584–1654) was a Spanish organist, composer, and theorist of the late Renaissance. Life Correa de Araujo was born in Seville. Like most Spanish organists from this era, details of his life are clouded by obscurity. For some time even the years of his birth and death were disputed. His musical background is unclear; he claimed to have learned theory by studying the works of Francisco de Peraza and Diego del Castillo. In 1599 he received an organ appointment in Seville, but became embroiled in a lawsuit with rival Juan Picafort, which delayed confirmation of this appointment for six years. In 1608, he was ordained as a priest. He maintained the post at Seville until 1636. Several times he applied unsuccessfully for other positions, and once again in 1630, he became embroiled in lawsuits which culminated in a brief period of imprisonment. In 1636, he left Seville and took up a post at Jaén Cathedral. In 1640, he was appointed as a prebendary at Segovia Cathedral, and remained there for the last fourteen years of his life. He died in Segovia in abject poverty. Works Correa’s writings make reference to two other publications (a Libro d

Francisco de la Torre

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Francisco de la Torre (c. 1460 – c. 1504) was a Spanish composer mainly active in the Kingdom of Naples. His hometown may have been Seville. His music can be found in La música en la corte de los Reyes Musulmanes, edited by H. Anglès (1947–51). Biography Francisco served as a singer at the Seville Cathedral from at least 1464 until 1467, and probably remained connected with Seville until 1485, when he left with the Aragonese royal chapel, whose choir he had joined on 1 July 1483. He would have been back in Seville when the court returned there for a residence lasting from the end of 1490 until March 1491 . He took an annual salary of 25,000 maravedís and served in the same capacity for seventeen years. On 15 July 1488 he was awarded a half-prebend from Ferdinand II . In May 1488 La Torre presented the Seville Cathedral Chapter with a claim that he had already been appointed to a half-prebend left vacant by its previous holder, Alonso Martínez de San Vicente. The chapter, which routinely resisted appointing prebendaries to non-resident applicants, rejected La Torre’s claim and bestowed the position on their own candidate, Juan de Alifón. La Torre appealed the decision and, a month l

Francisco de Peñalosa

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Francisco de Peñalosa (c. 1470 – April 1, 1528) was a Spanish composer of the middle Renaissance. Life He was born in Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo. He spent most of his career in Seville, serving as the maestro di capilla, though he also spent time in Burgos, and three years in Rome at the papal chapel (1518–1521). He died in Seville. Music and influence Peñalosa was one of the most famous Spanish composers of the generation before Cristóbal de Morales, and his compositions were highly regarded at the time. Unfortunately for him, his music was not widely distributed; he did not benefit from the invention of printing, since he mostly remained in Spain, away from cities such as Venice and Antwerp which were the first centers of printed music. Later generations of Spanish composers—Guerrero, Morales, Victoria—went to Italy for parts of their careers, where their compositions were printed and were as widely distributed as the music of the Franco-Flemish composers who dominated music in Europe in the 16th century. Peñalosa wrote masses, Magnificat settings, motets and hymns. Eleven secular compositions have survived, including an ensalada (a form of quodlibet) Por las

Francisco de Salinas

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Francisco de Salinas (1513, Burgos – 1590, Salamanca) was a Spanish music theorist and organist, noted as among the first to describe meantone temperament in mathematically precise terms, and one of the first (along with Guillaume Costeley) to describe, in effect, 19 equal temperament. In his De musica libri septem of 1577 he discusses 1/3-, 1/4- and 2/7-comma meantone tunings. Of 1/3-comma meantone, which is essentially identical to the meantone of 19-et, he remarks that it is “languid” but not “offensive to the ear”, and he notes that a keyboard of 19 tones to the octave suffices to give a circulating version of meantone. The 19th-century musicologist Alexander John Ellis maintained that Salinas really meant to characterize 1/6-comma meantone, and made a mistake due to his blindness. Others point out that Salinas’s descriptions of his tuning as “languid” but not “offensive to the ear” seem to apply to 1/3-comma meantone, not to 1/6-comma meantone, which in any case has a much sharper fifth than musicians of Salinas’s own time preferred. Salinas was also interested in just intonation, and advocated a 5-limit just intonation scale of 24 notes he called instrumentum perfectum. Biogr

Francisco Escudero (composer)

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Francisco Escudero García de Goizueta (13 August 1912 – 17 June 2002) was a Basque violinist, composer and conductor. Life and career He was born in Zarautz (Gipuzkoa), on 13 August 1912. He began his musical studies at the San Sebastián Municipal Music Academy with Beltrán Pagola, and continued in Madrid, where he was a Composition student of Conrado del Campo. He was awarded the Spanish National Fine Arts Award (Premio Nacional de Bellas Artes) for his Trío bucólico in 1937. During the Spanish Civil War, he moved to France. In 1945, he became director of the Coral de Bilbao. He was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts. In 1957, he obtained the National Music Prize. In 196,0 he created the City of San Sebastián Band. He composed the opera Zigor, with a Basque theme, which premiered in Bilbao and then in Madrid and San Sebastián with great success, once again obtaining a National Music Award (second one). As part of his teaching work, he directed the San Sebastián Municipal Higher Conservatory of Music. It was during this period, in 1979, that the historic San Sebastián conservatory was granted the capacity to teach the Superior Degree of music studies. His disciples ar

Francisco Gabriel Gálvez

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Francisco Gabriel Gálvez (c. 1510 – 1578) was a Spanish Renaissance composer of sacred music and was the maestro di cappella of Cuenca Cathedral from 1560 until his death. His only extant score is a five-part motet, Emendemus in melius. Life and works Little is known about Gálvez’s early life. The musicologist Miguel Martínez Millán (1911–1985) assumed that he was born in or near the Spanish city of Cuenca where there were several members of a Gálvez family active in the musical life of its cathedral. He served as a musician at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome before being summoned to Spain in 1560 to serve as the maestro di cappella of Cuenca Cathedral. He remained in that post for the rest of his life, although from September 1863 to March 1564 he absented himself to Aragon in a dispute over his pay. He returned when the cathedral offered him a substantial increase and back pay for the period of his absence. He later received another substantial increase to match an offer for his services from the Cathedral of Segovia. According to Martínez Millán, Gálvez died shortly after 10 July 1578, and the following September Ginés de Boluda was appointed his successor. Gálvez i

Francisco Guerrero (composer)

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Francisco Guerrero (October 4 (?), 1528 – November 8, 1599) was a Spanish Catholic priest and composer of the Renaissance. He was born and died in Seville. Life and career Guerrero’s early musical education was with his older brother Pedro and after that with the famous composer Cristóbal de Morales. At the age of 18 he was appointed maestro de capilla (i.e. music director) at Jaén Cathedral. Three years later he accepted a position of singer at Seville Cathedral. During this time he was much in demand as a singer and composer, establishing an exceptional reputation before his thirtieth birthday; in addition he published several collections of his music abroad, an unusual event for a young composer. After several decades of working and traveling throughout Spain and Portugal, sometimes in the employ of emperor Maximilian II, he went to Italy for a year (1581–1582) where he published two books of his music. After returning to Spain for several years, he decided to travel to the Holy Land, which he finally was able to do in 1589. His adventure included visits to Damascus, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem; on the return trip his ship was twice attacked by pirates, who threatened his life, sto

Francisco Guerrero Marín

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Francisco Guerrero Marín (July 7, 1951 – October 19, 1997) was a Spanish composer. He was born in Linares and died in Madrid. During his lifetime, he completed several compositions, among which there are five major works for orchestra: Antar Atman (1980), Ariadna (1984), Sahara (1991), Oleada (1993) and Coma Berenices (1997). In 1981, he started working on the cycle Zayin on request by the Arditti Quartet. Another project was an orchestration of the piano cycle Iberia of the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. However, this work was still unfinished on his death. The main aspect in Guerrero’s work was the search for musical elements to match natural phenomena. In the scope of his musical work, he studied physical and mathematical principles, most notably the fractal geometry of Benoît Mandelbrot. Works Entire list of works: http://www.centrodedocumentacionmusicaldeandalucia.es/export/sites/default/publicaciones/pdfs/catalogo-guerrero.pdf *Facturas (1969) for ensemble *Da tagte es (1970) for organ *Lo menos importante (1971) for harpsichord and three tape recorders *Xénias Pacatas (1971–1972) for 18 strings *Diapsalmata (1972) for electronics *Oda (1973) for 9 instruments *Noa (1973) fo

Francisco Javier García Fajer

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Francisco Javier García Fajer El Españoleto (Nalda, Logroño 2 December 1730 – Zaragoza 1809) was a Spanish composer of the Italianate galante school. He studied at the choir school at Zaragoza Cathedral. As a young man he moved to Italy, where he was chapelmaster of the see of Terni 1754-56 and gained his Italian epithet Lo Spagnoletto, which he retained even back in Spain as El Españoleto. The Italian musical environment during the 1750s was characterised by composers on the threshold between galante and early classical such as Niccolò Jommelli and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. García Fajer returned home as maestro de capilla of la Seo in Zaragoza 1756 till his death during the French siege of Zaragoza in 1809. As part of his Italianate reforms the Spanish villancico was supplanted by the Latin responsory. García Fajer was out of favour for many years in Spain due to his promotion of Italianate musical idiom, however in recent years he has been rehabilitated and taken on his own merits as a galante composer. A conference dedicated to rehabilitation of his reputation and work was held at the University of La Rioja, Spain, in April 2007. Works * Operas – Rome 1754, 1756 * Pompeo magn

Francisco José Olivares

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Francisco José Olivares (17 November 1778 – 2 September 1854) was a Spanish composer and organist who lived in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. Throughout his musical career, he worked in Cuenca, Orihuela and Salamanca. Biography Francisco José Olivares was born in Rubielos Bajos, Cuenca, on 17 November 1778. At the age of 9, in 1788, he started to attend the Colegio San José de Infantes de Choir of the Cathedral of Cuenca, where he began his musical training. Pedro Aranaz was one of his teachers, and Olivares was one of his favourite students. He was also the student of the organist Juan Manuel del Barrio. His first two works date from 1794, were a motet and a mass. Salamanca Olivares moved to Salamanca in 1803, when he obtained the appointment as the first organist and rector of the Colegio de Mozos de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. In 1806, to improve the teaching of choir children in the cathedral, he asked Pedro Aranaz’s help to establish a nursery school in Salamanca, similar to the one in Cuenca. As a result of this collaboration, he made a composition treatise, of which a copy is kept in the library of the Madrid Royal Conservatory. In 1817 Olivares

Francisco Lara

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Francisco Lara Tejero (born 1968) is a Spanish composer and conductor of classical music. Early life and education Born in Valladolid, in 1968, Lara studied at the Madrid Royal Conservatory where he graduated in 1990. In 1991, he continued to study composition in London at the Royal College of Music and at King’s College where he received a PhD in 1999 under the supervision of Sir Harrison Birtwistle. Music composition Lara’s music has been widely played across Europe. In 2001, he was awarded the Spanish Symphony Orchestras Association Composition Prize for “Hopscotch” and this composition was performed from 2002 to 2004 by every orchestra in the Association. In 2003, he won first prize at the International Composition Competition in Luxembourg for his piece “Dust”. Also in 2003, his Fractures for Piano and Orchestra was runner-up in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels. In 1999, he created a Contemporary Music Festival at the University of Valladolid which is now one of the most prominent in Spain. Francisco worked very hard to achieve his goals, and was determined to play music for a long time. Conductor Lara is also the artistic director and the

Francisco Llácer Pla

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Francisco Llácer Pla (1918 in Valencia – 2002 in Valencia) was a Spanish composer and choral conductor. He was one of the first Valencian composers who assimilated the postwar avantgarde approaches, combining it with lyricism and echoes of the Valencian folklore. Tomás Marco wrote: Llácer Pla offers a new, suggestive vision of a form of musical nationalism from a new, progressive perspective. A professor at the Valencia Conservatory, several of his progressive works are based in his harmonic investigations, such as his concept of heptafonism and his theory of the “balanced chord”, based on the double sense of the sonorous bodies’ resonance. On October 7, 2005 he was named Valencia’s favorite son. Quotes Incomplete list of works References

Francisco López Capillas

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Francisco López Capillas (1608–1674), known also as “López of the Chapels,” was a Mexican composer and theologian born in Mexico City. He is considered one of the most prolific composers of sacred music in Mexico during the Baroque era. Biography He was born Francisco López, the son of Bartolome López, potentially a royal notary, and María de la Trinidad. He was admitted into the Mexico City Cathedral choir in 1625, where he studied early European Gregorian chant and organum under organist and choirmaster Antonio Rodriguez Mata. During this time, it is likely that he enrolled at the University of Mexico and received a bachelor’s degree in theology in 1626. The period of his life between 1626 through 1641 is not well understood, however by 1641 he had found employment as an organist, dulcianist, and cantor at La Catedral de la Puebla de los Angeles, under the directorship of Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla. Puebla at this time was overseen by the Archbishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, who greatly supported the city’s emergence as a cultural and intellectual haven through various development and infrastructure projects, including the construction of new chapels and cathedrals in the village

Francisco Salas

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Francisco Lleroa y Salas (12 March 1812 in Albaicín, Province of Granada – 21 June 1875 in Madrid) was a Spanish classical opera singer (bass-baritone), one of the crucial figures in the revival of the zarzuela genre. Biography Early years Francisco Salas was born in Albaicín during its siege by the French. His father died the same year he was born. Thus, the boy had to work hard from early age. A famous tenor Lorenzo Valencia from Madrid came to Granada to sing in some operas, especially those by Rossini. He became Salas’s first teacher and protector. In 1829 they went to Madrid, where the seventeen-year-old entered the choir of Teatro de la Cruz. There he studied with José Reart and tenor José Valero. In October 1831 Salas made his soloist debut substituting the bass protagonist in I fidanzati, ossia Il contestabile di Chester by Pacini, and had success. From this moment he left the choir to perform “partiquinos y suplementos”, and already in 1833 his name opened the playbill for the Le calife de Bagdad by Boieldieu. Around that time he met , one of the most important singers on the Spanish scene of the period. They married and had three children. At their recitals, apart from th

Francisco Tárrega

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Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe, Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Gran Vals. Biography Tárrega was born on 21 November 1852, in Villarreal, Province of Castellón, Spain. It is said that Francisco’s father played flamenco and several other music styles on his guitar; when his father was away working as a watchman at the Convent of San Pascual, Francisco would take his father’s guitar and attempt to make the beautiful sounds he had heard. Francisco’s nickname as a child was “Quiquet”. As a child, he ran away from his nanny and fell into an irrigation channel and injured his eyes. Fearing that his son might lose his sight completely, his father moved the family to Castellón de la Plana to attend music classes because as a musician he would be able to earn a living, even if blind. Both his first music teachers, Eugeni Ruiz and Manuel González, were blind. In 1862, concert guitarist Julián Arcas, on tour in Castellón, heard the young Tárrega play and advised Tárrega’s father to allow Francisco to come to Barcelona to study with him. T

Francisco Valls

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Francisco Valls or Francesc Valls (Barcelona 1665/1671 – 2 February 1747) was a Spanish composer, theorist and mestre de capella. Among his most known works are the mass Missa Scala Aretina and tract Mapa Armónico Práctico. Life In 1696 Francisco Valls left the Church of Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona, and took up the post of Mestre de capella at Barcelona Cathedral. He wrote 10 masses, 17 psalm settings, 30 motets, several other sacred items and 141 secular compositions. Many of these are manuscripts lodged in the Biblioteca de Catalunya in Barcelona. Composition of the Missa Scala Aretina The Missa Scala Aretina, so called in reference to Guido Aretinus’ scale that appears in the cantus firmus (prominently audible in the Kyrie), caused a major musical controversy between 1715 and 1720, initiated by a pamphlet against Valls by the organist and theatre composer Joaquín Martínez de la Roca. Pro and anti groups were roughly equal, the famous composer Alessandro Scarlatti had given an opinion, mildly opposed to Valls’ ideas. In the Qui tollis at bar 120 (López-Calo edition) the second soprano enters on an unprepared 9th chord causing a gratuitous semitonal dissonance with a b flat, a,

Gabriel Mena

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Gabriel Mena (1470-1528) was a Spanish poet, composer, musician and singer. He was a servant of the Admiral of Castile, don Fadrique Enríquez and cantor of the chapel of Fernando el Católico until the king’s death in 1516. He is first referenced in royal household accounts in 1496 and continued his work there until at least 1502. It is thought that after the king’s death he entered into the service of Enríquez, Fernando’s cousin, until he returned to serve the royal family in 1523. Here, he was in the employ of Juana “the Mad”, where he remained until his death. A poem in the 1554 Cancionero general refers to him as a married man living close to Tordesillas in Torrelobatón. In fact, Mena was married twice with three children. Music Mena was a respected poet and composer, with 19 musical works surviving. All but one of his works are preserved in the Cancionero Musical de Palacio, with the other being preserved in the records of the Biblioteca de Catalunya. Most of his songs are concerned with the hardship of love and contain quotes of other popular refrains. The songs Aquel pastorcico, madre, La bella malmarida, Aquella mora garrida, and Sola me dexastes all contain full quotations

Gaetano Brunetti

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Gaetano (or Cayetano ) Brunetti (1744 in Fano, Papal States – 16 December 1798, Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid, Spain) was an Italian-born composer who was active in Spain during the reigns of kings Charles III and Charles IV. As well as being musically influential at court, He also became violin teacher to the future Charles IV (then Prince of Asturias), who unlike his father was an avid music lover. In 1788, when Charles IV came to the throne, Brunetti took charge of a newly formed royal ensemble, for which he composed prolifically and also programmed works by European composers of the day, such as Joseph Haydn. little of Brunetti’s music was published during his lifetime, thereby largely precluding knowledge of his music for almost two centuries. This catalogue revealed that the U.S. Library of Congress houses almost half of the surviving manuscript scores. References Sources * Further reading * External links * * Manuscript scores at the Library of Congress * Manuscripts and scores at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (via Isidore)

Gaspar Cassadó

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Gaspar Cassadó i Moreu (30 September or 5 October 1897 – 24 December 1966) was a Spanish cellist and composer of the early 20th century. Biography Gaspar Cassadó i Moreu was born in Barcelona to a church musician father, Joaquim Cassadó, and began taking cello lessons at age seven. When he was nine, he played in a recital where Pablo Casals was in the audience; Casals immediately offered to teach him. The city of Barcelona awarded him a scholarship so that he could study with Casals in Paris. In 1914 World War I broke out and his brother Agustí died a victim of an epidemic. Gaspar returned to Barcelona and began to offer concerts with the main orchestras of Spain. From 1918 he also performed in France and Italy, thanks to his friendship with Alfredo Casella. In 1920 he toured Argentina. From 1922 he began to make known his own compositions, both pieces for cello and concerts, chamber music, oratorios and a sardana. He also made transcriptions for cello. In 1923 and thanks to the friendship with Francesco von Mendelssohn he met the singer and pianist Giulietta Gordigiani, with whom he lived for more than three decades, settling in Florence. Gaspar and Giulietta created a cello and p

Gaspar Fernandes

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Gaspar Fernandes (sometimes written Gaspar Fernández, the Spanish version of his name) (1566–1629) was a Portuguese-Mexican composer and organist active in the cathedrals of Santiago de Guatemala (present-day Antigua Guatemala) and Puebla de los Ángeles, New Spain (present-day Mexico). Life Most scholars agree that the Gaspar Fernandes listed as a singer in the cathedral of Évora, Portugal, is the same person as the Gaspar Fernández who was hired on 16 July 1599 as organist and organ tuner of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala. In 1606, Fernandes was approached by the dignitaries of the cathedral of Puebla, inviting him to become the successor of his recently deceased friend Pedro Bermúdez as chapel master. He left Santiago de Guatemala on 12 July 1606, and began his tenure in Puebla on 15 September. He remained there until his death in 1629. Work One of his most important achievements for posterity was the compilation and binding in 1602 of various choir books containing Roman Catholic liturgical polyphony, several of which are extant in Guatemala. These manuscripts contain music by Spanish composers Francisco Guerrero, Cristóbal de Morales, and Pedro Bermúdez; the latter was

Gaspar Sanz

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Francisco Bartolomé Sanz Celma (April 4, 1640 (baptized) – 1710), better known as Gaspar Sanz, was a Spanish composer, guitarist, and priest born to a wealthy family in Calanda in the comarca of Bajo Aragón, Spain. He studied music, theology and philosophy at the University of Salamanca, where he was later appointed Professor of Music. He wrote three volumes of pedagogical works for the baroque guitar that form an important part of today’s classical guitar repertory and have informed modern scholars in the techniques of baroque guitar playing. Biography His birth date is unknown but he was baptized as Francisco Bartolomé Sanz Celma in the church of Calanda de Ebro, Aragon on 4 April 1640, later adopting the first name “Gaspar”. After gaining his Bachelor of Theology at the University of Salamanca, Gaspar Sanz traveled to Naples, Rome and perhaps Venice to further his music education. He is thought to have studied under Orazio Benevoli, choirmaster at the Vatican and Cristofaro Caresana, organist at the Royal Chapel of Naples. Sanz learned to play guitar while studying under Lelio Colista and was influenced by the music of the Italian guitarists Foscarini, Granata, and Corbetta. Whe

Gerónimo Giménez

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Gerónimo Giménez y Bellido (10 October 1854 – 19 February 1923) was a Spanish conductor and composer, who dedicated his career to writing zarzuelas, such as La tempranica and La boda de Luis Alonso. He preferred to spell his first name with a “G”, even though his name at birth officially began with a “J”. Written in Spanish, a very comprehensive biographical exposition by Ascensión García de las Mozas may be found at the Universidad de Cádiz institutional repository of Research and Learning Objects (RODIN). Career Giménez was born in Seville. A son of the Granada musician José María Giménez and his wife Antonia Bellido, he moved with his family to the city of Cadiz, where he soon became a choirboy. Although the details of his early years are not entirely certain, Giménez spent his childhood and adolescence in Cádiz. A child prodigy, he began music lessons with his father and continued his education with Salvador Viniegra. By the age of 12, he was already playing among the first violins of the Teatro Principal orchestra in Cádiz. Five years later, he became the director of an opera and zarzuela company, making his debut in Gibraltar with a production of Giovanni Pacini’s Safo. A sch

Gonzalo de Olavide

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Gonzalo de Olavide y Casenave (28 March 1934 – 4 November 2005) was a Spanish composer born in Madrid. Olavide studied composition initially with Victorino Echevarría at the Conservatorio Superior de Madrid, then in Belgium at the conservatories of Antwerp and Brussels. He attended the Darmstadt Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik where he worked with Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio, and later studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Henri Pousseur at the Second, Third, and Fourth Cologne Courses for New Music in 1964–65, 1965–66, and 1966–67. For twenty years he lived and worked in Geneva, returning to Spain in 1991. Olavide composed orchestral, chamber, solo, and electronic music. In 1986 he received the Premio Nacional de Música, and in 2001 the Premio Reina Sofia. Compositions *Triludio (1963) *Índices, for chamber orchestra (1964) *Henri à quatre, composed jointly with Holger Schüring Czukay , Attilio Filieri, and Ivan Tcherepnin (1965) *Quartet (1971) *Sine die, for orchestra (1972) *Quasi una cadenza, for chamber ensemble (1973) *Clamor I, electronic music (1974) *Clamor II, for tape and large orchestra (1974) *Clamor III, for voice, two pianos, and percussion (1974) *Sy

Gracia Baptista

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Gracia Baptista (fl. 1557?) was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun and composer who lived in Ávila. Her setting of Conditor alme, published in 1557 in the Libro de cifra nueva para tecla, Arpa y Vihuela of Luis Venegas de Henestrosa, is the earliest keyboard work by an Iberian woman composer, the first published composition by a woman composer, and possibly the only surviving published keyboard work by an Iberian woman dating to before the eighteenth century. The piece is scored for voice and either organ or harpsichord. References

Guillermo Morphy

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Guillermo Morphy y Ferríz de Guzmán, best known as Conde de Morphy or Count Morphy (February 29, 1836, in Madrid – August 28, 1899, in Baden, Switzerland) was a Spanish aristocrat, music critic, musicologist, historian, educator, composer and politician. He became personal secretary to King Alfonso XII of Spain in 1875. He became a highly admired figure in artistic circles of late nineteenth century Madrid, and for his service to the Crown of Spain. He was a friend of Isaac Albéniz, for whom he arranged a grant to study at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He served as director of the Royal Concert Society at the Teatro Real in Madrid until 1891. Biography Born in Madrid on February 29, 1836, he was of Irish descent, son of Joseph Morphy. He spent his childhood traveling through France, Italy and Germany, among other countries, where he had a European renaissance education becoming a lover of art and literature. He lived for two years in Germany between 1846 and 1848. In 1858, he took over his father’s law firm. In 1863 he took classes under the composer François-Joseph Fétis in Brussels. When he returned he entered the Royal Palace of Madrid on November 28, 1863, as a gentleman

Gustavo Díaz-Jerez

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Gustavo Díaz-Jerez (born 27 February 1970) is a Spanish pianist and composer. Biography Gustavo Díaz-Jerez was born on 27 February 1970 in Tenerife. Díaz-Jerez studied piano with J. A. Rodriguez at the Conservatorio Superior of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and subsequently with Solomon Mikowsky at Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, South America, the UK and the US. He has collaborated with conductors such as Ivan Fischer, Victor Pablo, Gunther Herbig, Adrian Leaper, José R. Encinar, Festival de La Roque-d’Anthéron, Quincena Musical Donostiarra, Festival Internacional de Santander, among others. He studied composition with Giampaolo Bracali and Ludmila Ulehla at Manhattan School of Music. His compositional language may be defined as “algorithmic spectralism”, merging elements of the spectralist movement (Grisey, Murail, Radulescu, etc.), in which timbre plays a fundamental role, with processes derived from mathematical disciplines such as cellular automata, L-systems, fractals, genetic algorithms, number theory, spectrum analysis, additive synthesis, psychoacoustics, etc. Needless to say, the use of the computer is indispensa

Hernando Franco

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Hernando Franco (1532 – November 28, 1585) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance, who was mainly active in Guatemala and Mexico. Life Franco was born in Galizuela (now part of Esparragosa de Lares, Badajoz Province) in Extremadura, a source region for many people who came to the New World in the 16th century. He was trained in music as a choir boy, and later apprentice and journeyman, at Segovia Cathedral by Gerónimo de Espinar, who may also have been a teacher of Tomás Luis de Victoria. While a youth he met and befriended Lázaro del Álamo, who was to precede him as maestro de capilla in Mexico City. Most likely Franco went to Nueva España in the 1550s, though there is no record of his activities until 1571 when he appears in the records as maestro de capilla of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala, the capital city of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. That magnificent building, since destroyed by an earthquake, had been newly constructed in the valley of Panchoy, present-day Antigua Guatemala, after the city had to be moved from the previous site in the Almolonga valley. Franco left that position in 1574 after a series of budget cuts that affected his salary, and undertook

Igor Escudero

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Igor Escudero Morais (born Leon, Spain, 1977) is a Spanish musician, best known as a composer of classical music and opera. He is the author of eleven operas (including the trilogy based on “I, Claudius”, premiered with the Castile and León Symphony Orchestra), three musicals (“The Fall of the House of Usher”’ has also been considered chamber opera), three profane oratorios (“The mountain of souls”, “The glass Cathedral” and “Moonbeam” ), concerts, soundtracks for documentaries (four pieces for two documentaries for “The Time Tunnel” of “RTVE” ), OST for audiovisuals and short films, sacred and profane choral music, cantatas and a great variety of chamber pieces. Selected works Opera *Aquerra (2026) *The legend of Tamonante (2021) *The Commoners (2021) *I, Claudius & Claudius the God (2019) # Part One: Livia # Part Two: Caligula # Part Three: Claudius, the God *Peter I, the Evil (2009) *Oci, the Shaman (2006) Chamber opera *The metamorphosis (2023) *Borderland (2022) *Casina (2013) *The third king (2012) Secular oratorios *The mountain of souls (2020) *The glass Cathedral (2014) *Moonbeam (2011) Filmography and discography *The Time Tunnel (2018) *Adendro (2015) Musicals *The Fall

Inés Medina-Fernández

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Inés Medina-Fernández (born February 8, 1974) is a pianist and composer of contemporary classical music. She began playing piano at the age of 8, completing examinations at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. An experienced pianist and self-taught composer, her compositions draw upon many influences - from Baroque to John Cage, to film and documentary music, for example. She explores composition for a variety of instruments, and has composed not only for piano but also for horn and classical guitar. Her love of film music has led to collaborations with producers and directors. Medina-Fernández also enjoys working with musicians interested in premiering her pieces. Medina-Fernández’ music is difficult to define. It is multi-layered and uses tones and patterns in creative and original structures, hinting at medieval and baroque although clearly contemporary. Biography Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, she studied physics there until 1994, when she moved to Canterbury, England. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Physics with Astrophysics at the University of Kent in 1998 then lived in Ghent, Belgium, until 2000. Taking every opportunity to learn musical composition, she attended many Earl

Isaac Albéniz

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Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso composer, conductor, and pianist. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also exerted a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for his piano works that incorporate Spanish folk music idioms and elements. His compositions, particularly his suite Iberia (1905–1908), are considered masterpieces and have influenced both European classical music and Spanish nationalism. Isaac Albéniz was close to the Generation of ‘98. Transcriptions of many of his pieces, such as Asturias (Leyenda), Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, Córdoba, Cataluña, Mallorca, and Tango in D, are important pieces for classical guitar, though he never composed for the guitar. Some of Albéniz’s personal papers are held in the Library of Catalonia. Biography In 1860, Albéniz was born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz (a customs official) and his wife, Maria de los Dolores Pascual. He was a child prodigy, first performing at the age of 4. His sister claimed that by the age of three Albéniz knew “his scales and arpeggios, and would play full of expressi

Isaac Gorni

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Isaac Gorni (or Isaac ben Abraham haGorni) was a late thirteenth-century Hebrew lyric poet from Aire-sur-l’Adour in Gascony, then ruled by the English Prince Edward. Isaac probably left Gascony before the Jews were expelled by a royal edict of 1287, perhaps in 1275, 1281, or 1282, when heavy taxes were collected from the Jews. His surname derives from the Hebrew goren, “threshing floor”, the Occitan for which is aire, as in his birthplace. He wrote a song dedicated to the citizens of Aire, recalling both the “lords who stand in the breach in times of her distress” and the Jewish intellectuals, but not referring to any exile. It probably therefore predates 1287, but it already demonstrates Isaac’s penchant for pomposity: comparing Aire and Jerusalem, he suggests that the Messiah, if he knew that Isaac was born in Aire, would choose to be born there as well. He was not always successful, and his poems often record the ingratitude he encountered. Eighteen of his works have survived, all in one manuscript. They belong to the tradition of the troubadours and courtly love. Two of these have been translated into English: “Gorni Pleads His Cause” and “The Fate of the Adulterer”. The first

Isabel Güell i López

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Isabel María Francisca de Paula Luisa Clementina Güell y López (Barcelona, November 23, 1872 - Barcelona, May 8, 1956), Marquess of Castelldosrius, was a Spanish composer of religious works, as well as a pianist and organist. She composed approximately 34 works. Early life and education Isabel María Francisca de Paula Luisa Clementina Güell y López was born in Barcelona on November 23, 1872. Her mother was Isabel López Bru, born in Cuba (daughter of the first Marquess of Comillas, Antonio López y López); her father was Eusebi Güell, first Count of Güell. Isabel had a cousin, Sister Eulalia Anzizu. She began her studies with Josep García Robles, composer of her father’s court. She studied with her aunt, Josefa Bacigalupi, and later studied piano and organ in Barcelona and Paris. Her main dedication was charity and benevolence, as befitted a woman of her social class in that era. Personal life Isabel’s father, a patron of Antoni Gaudí, commissioned works such as the Palau Güell and Park Güell. From 1939 onwards, she devoted herself to her grandchildren, giving them music and French lessons. She died in Barcelona on May 8, 1956, and was buried in the family pantheon of Dosrius (Mataró

Jacobo Calderón

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Jacobo Calderón Fernández (born 18 May 1974 in Madrid) is a Spanish composer, producer and arranger. He has produced and composed 60 albums that have sold 9 million copies worldwide. His songs have been performed by Raphael, David Bisbal, Abraham Mateo, Sergio Dalma, Álex Ubago, Tamara, Pastora Soler, Manuel Mijares and other singers. As a producer he has worked with Luis Fonsi, Alejandro Sanz, Paul Anka, Charles Aznavour, Vicente Fernández, Joan Manuel Serrat, Joaquín Sabina, María Dolores Pradera, Francisco Céspedes, Laura Pausini, Ricardo Montaner, Miley Cyrus and Alejandro Fernández. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award and a Latin Grammy. His father Juan Carlos Calderón was composer and music producer. Career At the age of eight he began studying music theory and piano at the Katarina Gurska music academy in Madrid. He continued his studies with the Argentinian maestro Carlos Cítera and completed them by specialising in arranging and modern composition at the Escuela de Música Creativa in Madrid. At the age of 20 he moved to Miami where he studied music industry related studies at the University of Miami. His firs recording took place at the age of 18, when he composed the

Jacques Bosch

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Jaime Felipe José Bosch (in Catalan: Jaume Bosch i Renard, in France known as Jacques Bosch) (26 May 1825 – 31 March 1895) was a Catalan guitarist and song composer who established himself in Paris. Biography Bosch was born in Barcelona and educated at the school of the Convent de la Mercè in Barcelona, where he began his studies in piano and Guitar. Before he emigrated, Bosch gave successful concerts in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia between 1849 and 1852. From 1853 he settled in Paris and from 1857 toured frequently in France, the Netherlands and Germany. Bosch was a very good friend of the painter Édouard Manet and posed for him many times, one portrait being used as illustration for one of Bosch’s publications, Plainte Moresque, Op. 85, which is also dedicated to Manet. Besides many original compositions he wrote a Méthode de guitare (1891, see below) and an opera (Roger de Flor, 1868), which was not performed. In Paris, Bosch was much praised at the aristocratic salons and had a large number of pupils, including the brothers Alfred and Jules Cottin. His best-known piece was to be his song collection Dix Mélodies, which was praised by Felipe Pedrell as a “true model of what a c

Jaime Teixidor

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Jaume Teixidor Dalmau (; ) was born in Barcelona on April 16, 1884, and died in Barakaldo on February 23, 1957. He was a Spanish musician, conductor, publisher, and composer. After studying composition and conducting in Barcelona he joined the army in 1906 as a musician, performing on the saxophone. He became the director of the 68th “Africa” Regiment band (Banda Música del regimiento 68) in the autonomous Spanish city of Melilla on the Moroccan coast. He retired from military service in 1920 after thirteen years with this band. In 1924, he directed the Banda de Música Primitiva in Carlet and also taught piano and violin. He resided in Carlet for only a couple of years and then moved to Manises, Valencia, to lead the Banda del Círculo Instructivo Musical. In 1928 he won a competition to direct the municipal band of Barakaldo, which he did until the end of his life. One source indicates he gave up the direction of the band for political reasons during the Spanish Civil War. In Barakaldo he also set up a music publishing firm, which published his compositions and others. His daughter, María Teresa Tico Texidor (1907–1993), was also a composer, including Paz Eterna and Rosa Evangélica

Javier Navarrete

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Javier Navarrete (born May 9, 1956) is a Spanish film score composer. His best-known score, for which he received an Oscar nomination, was for Pan’s Labyrinth (2006; his second collaboration with Guillermo del Toro, the first being The Devil’s Backbone). He also produced in 2015 the soundtrack for the Hong Kong–based film Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal. Works 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Awards and nominations Won *Emmy Award 2012 Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special (Original Dramatic Score) – Hemingway & Gellhorn *BMI Film & TV Awards 2012 Film Music – Wrath of the Titans *Ariel Award 2007 Best Film Music – Pan’s Labyrinth Nominations *Academy Award 2007 Best Original Score – Pan’s Labyrinth *Fangoria Chainsaw Awards 2014 Best Score – Byzantium *Grammy Award 2008 Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media – Pan’s Labyrinth *Goya Award 2007 Best Original Score – Pan’s Labyrinth *Online Film Critics Society Awards 2007 Best Original Score – Pan’s Labyrinth References External links *

Jesús Arámbarri

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Jesús Arámbarri Gárate (13 April 1902 in Bilbao – 11 July 1960 in Madrid) was a Spanish classical music conductor and composer native to the Basque Country. Jesús Arámbarri has been classed among the cultural treasures of the region, with Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Jesús Guridi, Luís de Pablo, Maurice Ravel, and Pablo de Sarasate. His place in 20th-century classical music is part of a tradition which also includes Isaac Albéniz, José Antonio de Donostia, Manuel de Falla, Felipe Pedrell, Joaquín Rodrigo, Joaquín Turina, and José María Usandizaga. After his early music education at the Bilbao Conservatory of Music, Arámbarri’s teachers included Paul Le Flem, Paul Dukas and Vladimir Golschmann in Paris and Felix Weingartner in Basel. Arámbarri composed some of his most important works while he was a student. After his return to Bilbao he was primarily a conductor and composed only a few more works, which included In memoriam for Juan Carlos de Gortázar (1939), Ofrenda (Offering) for Manuel de Falla (1946), and Dedicatoria (Dedication) for Javier Arisqueta (1949). From 1933 in Bilbao, Arámbarri conducted the (then part-time) Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, which he developed into the first fu

Jesús Bal y Gay

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Jesús Bal y Gay (23 June 1905 – 3 March 1993) was a Spanish composer, music critic, and musicologist. He was a member of Generation of ‘27 and the Group of Eight, the latter of which also included composers Julián Bautista, Ernesto Halffter and his brother Rodolfo, Juan José Mantecón, Fernando Remacha, Rosa García Ascot, Salvador Bacarisse and Gustavo Pittaluga. He married Ascot in 1933. Career Jesús Bal y Gay was born in Lugo, where he began his musical studies. There he established contact with the group from the magazine Ronsel in whose publication he published Hacia el ballet gallego (Towards the Galician ballet) (1924), an effort which represented his launch into professional literary life. With the collaboration of Eduardo Martinez Torner, he embarked on a project that would see him taking many trips and much time, the Galician Songbook, which would not be completed until 1974. It was his most famous and celebrated work. He moved to Santiago de Compostela to study medicine, but he left everything to go to Madrid, where, in 1924, he joined the Residencia de Estudiantes. He died in Torrelaguna. References External links * online edition of Romances and sixteenth century Spanish

Jesús García Leoz

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Jesús García Leoz (Olite, Navarra, 10 January 1904 – 1953) was a Spanish composer, particularly noted for his film scores. He was a favourite pupil of Joaquín Turina and one of the “músicos del ‘27.” Works, editions and recordings * Cinco canciones para canto e piano (1934) (poems by Juan Paredes) * Tríptico de canciones para canto e piano (1937) (poems by Lorca) * Seis canciones para canto e piano (1939) (poems by Antonio Machado) * Dos canciones para canto e piano (1952) (poems by Juan Ramón Jiménez) * Symphony * Sonatina for small orchestra (1945) * Sonata for Violin and Piano * String Quartet in F minor (Opus 2) * Quartet for Piano and Strings * Piano Sonatina * La duquesa del candil (1948) zarzuela in three acts (libretto by Guillermo and Rafael Fernández-Shaw) Selected filmography * Fortunato (1942) * A Palace for Sale (1942) * I Will Consult Mister Brown (1946) * The Black Siren (1947) * Four Women (1947) * Lady in Ermine (1947) * Lola Leaves for the Ports (1947) * The Party Goes On (1948) * Guest of Darkness (1948) * Ninety Minutes (1949) * Night Arrival (1949) * A Man on the Road (1949) * Tempest (1949) * Wings of Youth (1949) * The Maragatan Sphinx (1950) * Tales of the A

Jesús Guridi

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Jesús Guridi Bidaola (25 September 1886 – 7 April 1961) was a Spanish Basque composer who was a key player in 20th-century Spanish and Basque music. His style fits into the late Romantic idiom, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a strong influence from Basque culture. Among his best-known works are the zarzuela El Caserío, the opera Amaya, the orchestral work Ten Basque Melodies and his organ works, where the Triptych of the Good Shepherd can be highlighted. Biography Guridi was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz into a family of musicians. His mother, Maria Trinidad Bidaola, was a violinist and his father, Lorenzo Guridi, was a pianist . After completing his early studies with the Piarists and the Jesuits of Zaragoza he moved to Madrid, where he received lessons from Valentín Arín. Later, in Bilbao, he received violin lessons from Lope Alaña, who introduced him to the society called “El Cuartito”, and studied harmony with José Sáinz Besabe . On 28 January 1901 he gave his first public concert with the Philharmonic Society of Bilbao. At the age of 18 he was enrolled in the Schola Cantorum in Paris, studying organ with Abel Decaux, composition with Auguste Sérieyx, and fugue and counterp

Jesús Rodríguez Picó

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Jesús Rodríguez Picó (born Barcelona, Spain, 12 July 1953) is a composer of contemporary classical music, a clarinet player and a pedagogue. He studied at the Conservatori del Liceu where he obtained a certificate as a clarinet teacher, completing his training in France. He collaborated with many ensembles specialized in the contemporary repertoire, like the Grup Instrumental Català (GIC) and Solars Vortices, as well as forming a duo with the pianist Manuel Cabero. As a performer, he has strived to promote clarinet music and contemporary music, in addition to working in musical pedagogy and in various fields relating to cultural management. Career Rodríguez Picó has written a lot of chamber music and particularly works written for the clarinet or the saxophone, and is often the result of his friendship and collaboration with different instrumentalists. Some examples are Sonata Marina, for saxophone and piano, and Volt, Preludi i Dansa and Horo, both for clarinet. He also writes extensively for orchestra, including concertos and symphonic poems, such as: La ciutat i les estrelles (Concertino for piano and orchestra, 1979), Diomira (1980), El lleó afamat (Preludes for orchestra, 1988

Joan Brudieu

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Joan Brudieu (; 1520–1591) was a French-Catalan composer. Brudieu was born around 1520 in the diocese of Limoges and died in la Seu d’Urgell in 1591, after spending most of his life in the Aragonese region of Catalonia. From 1539 he was cantor at the Cathedral of Santa Maria d’Urgell, where he was ordained in 1546. In 1548 he was appointed choir master for life. In 1550 he traveled to his home country to acquire instruments for the chapel. In 1577 he retired to Balaguer, but after a year moved to become maestro di cappella at Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona, which he left shortly afterwards, apparently due to health problems. Then in 1579 he returned to la Seu d’Urgell, where he remained until his death, having previously been replaced by Rafael Coma. Works Requiem - in edition by Felipe Pedrell. In his madrigals Brudieu was influenced by ensaladas of Mateo Flecha (1481–1553). Madrigals - in edition by Tomeu Quetgles. Madrigal V - in edition by Maricarmen Gómez, Las ensaladas (Praga, 1581) con un suplemento de obras del género. Valencia, Generalitat, 2008. Vol. 1 Joan Brudieu’s five madrigals in Catalan: # Los goigs de Nostra Dona (The seven joys of our Lady) # Madrigal XIII (1st pa

Joan Magrané Figuera

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Joan Magrané Figuera (born in 1988, Reus) is a Spanish composer. Biography Joan Magrané Figuera started to study composition with Ramon Humet. Subsequently, he studied at Esmuc in Barcelona with Agustín Charles, at the Graz Kunts Universität with Beat Furrer and then moved to Paris, where he attended lessons by Stefano Gervasoni at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse . His music has been performed around Europe by orchestras, groups and soloists such as Ensemble Intercontemporain , BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Quatuor Diotima, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Neue Vocalsolisten , Quartet Gerhard , and many others. The year 2016 he was lauréat of the Villa Medici in Rome. He has been awarded several composition prizes among them the XXXI Queen Sofia Composition Prize in 2014. Since 2017 he has been president of the Federació Joventuts Musicals de Catalunya. Works (selection) *Diàlegs de Tirant e Carmesina (2018/2019), chamber opera *Tombeau, violoncello (2018) *Fantasiestück, piano (2018) *Oració, 8 voices (2018) *Era, 3rd string quartet (2018) *Faula, ensemble (2017) *Estris de llum, sax quartet (2017) * Marines i boscatges, ensembl

Joan Pau Pujol

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Joan Pau Pujol (; baptized 18 June 1570 – 17 May 1626) was a Catalan and Spanish composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. While best known for his sacred music, he also wrote popular secular music. Life Pujol was born in Mataró. In 1593 he became the assistant maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Barcelona, but he only held this post for a few months, taking the post of maestro de capilla (master of the chapel) at the cathedral in Tarragona, and then in 1595 at Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza, a post which he kept for 17 years. While in Zaragoza, in 1600, he became a priest. In 1612 he returned to Barcelona, becoming maestro de capilla at the cathedral, a distinguished post which he held until his death. Most of his music dates from the time he was in Barcelona. Evidently a condition of his employment was to produce a fixed quantity of new liturgical music each year. Unusually for many composers of the time, most of it has survived. Also while in Barcelona he served as an organ consultant, and helped in various organ building projects in Catalonia. He died in Barcelona. Music Pujol wrote much of his music for the patron saint of Catalonia, St. George,

Joaquín Gaztambide

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Joaquín Romualdo Gaztambide y Garbayo (7 February 1822 in Tudela, Navarre – 18 March 1870 in Madrid) was one of the most prominent Spanish composers of zarzuela in the mid-nineteenth century. His contribution to the revival of the genre was highly significant; and although during the last century his work virtually disappeared from the Spanish musical scene, the early 21st century has reversed this trend. Of Italianate quality in the manner of Gaetano Donizetti, his music nonetheless makes use of Spanish rhythms and dance forms. Among other renowned works (many in opéra comique form), his La Mensajera (1849), El valle de Andorra (1851), El sueño de una noche de verano, Catalina (1854), Los magiares (1857), El juramento (1858), and the one-act classic Una vieja (1860) stand out. Biography Sent to Pamplona by his uncle to study piano and composition with Joseph Guelbenzu and Mariano Garcia, Gaztambide taught piano and played bass in the orchestra of a theater to make his living. He then moved to Madrid in 1842, where he studied at the Real Conservatório de Musica Maria Cristina, Two years later he traveled to Paris as conductor of a company of actors and dancers organized by the Span

Joaquín Rodrigo

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Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the Concierto de Aranjuez, a cornerstone of the classical guitar repertoire. Life Rodrigo was born in Sagunto, Province of Valencia. At the age of three, he lost his sight completely after contracting diphtheria. At the age of eight he began to study solfège, piano, and violin and from the age of 16 he studied harmony and composition. He wrote his compositions in Braille and they were transcribed for publication. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and being best known for his guitar music, he never mastered playing the instrument. Rodrigo studied music under Francisco Antich in Valencia and under Paul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he returned to Paris to study musicology, first under Maurice Emmanuel, and then under André Pirro. His first published compositions date from 1923. From 1947, Rodrigo was a professor of music history, holding the Manuel de Falla Chair of Music in the Faculty of

Joaquín Turina

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Joaquín Turina Pérez (9 December 188214 January 1949) was a Spanish composer of classical music. Biography Turina was born in Seville. He studied in Seville as well as in Madrid. He lived in Paris from 1905 to 1914 where he took composition lessons from Vincent d’Indy at the Schola Cantorum de Paris and studied the piano under Moritz Moszkowski. Like his countryman and friend, Manuel de Falla, while in Paris he familiarized himself with the impressionist composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, whose music had a profound influence on his compositional practice. On 10 December 1908 he married Obdulia Garzón In the early months of 1929, he visited Havana, Cuba, where he gave a series of seven lectures at the Hispanic-Cuban Institute of Culture. Works :See: List of compositions by Joaquín Turina His works include the operas Margot (1914) and Jardín de Oriente (1923), the Danzas fantásticas (1919, versions for piano and orchestra), La oración del torero (written first for a lute quartet, then string quartet, then string orchestra), chamber music, piano works, guitar pieces and songs. Much of his work shows the influence of traditional Andalusian music. He also wrote a short one-move

Jordi Savall

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Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of instruments (notably the viola da gamba) in contemporary performance and recording. As a historian of early music his repertoire features everything from medieval, Renaissance and Baroque through to the Classical and Romantic periods. He has incorporated non-western musical traditions in his work including African vernacular music for a documentary on slavery. Musical education His musical training started at age six in the school choir of his native Igualada (1947–55). After graduating from the Barcelona’s Conservatory of Music (where he studied from 1959 to 1965) he specialized in early music, collaborating with Ars Musicae de Barcelona under Enric Gispert, studying with August Wenzinger at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland (1968–70) and eventually succeeding Wenzinger in 1974 as professor of viola da gamba at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Ensembles In 1974 he formed the ensemble Hespèrion XX (known since 2000 as Hespè

José Abraham

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José Abraham (born 18 March 1974 in Seville) is a Spanish writer, composer and music producer. His songs have been published in more than 40 countries. He has collaborated with multiple producers, musicians and orchestras around the world. His works have been performed at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles and the Royal Albert Hall in London. Biography José Abraham has a degree in law from the University of Seville, is an expert lawyer in Intellectual Law from the Inesem Business School, founder of the School of Artists of Andalusia, and CEO of the record label “Kalma Music” and his own music publishing house “José Abraham Publishing”. In 2014, he was recognized by the International Songwriting Competition (United States) as the Best Latin Songwriter, also receiving an honorable mention from the organization. In 2021, he placed among the Top 3 finalists at the New Wave Musical Festival held in Russia, one of the leading music festivals in Eastern Europe. Throughout his career, he has written, produced, or collaborated on studio albums with artists such as Roberto Carlos, Cristian Castro, Jennifer Lopez, Alejandro Sanz, David Bisbal, Marc Antho

José Antonio Labordeta

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José Antonio Labordeta Subías (10 March 1935 – 19 September 2010) was a Spanish Aragonese singer, songwriter, poet, writer and political activist. He was described by The Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa (Great Aragonese Encyclopedia) as “The most important Aragonese singer-songwriter”. He began singing in an attempt to give more relevance to his poetry; his songs are well-known and beloved anthems in Aragón. Poetic songs such as “Aragón”, “Canto a la libertad” (Song for Freedom) or “Me dicen que no quieres” (They tell me you don’t want to) also gained national popularity. He was also the founder of the Andalán newspaper, which was very influential during the 1970s. From 2000 until retiring in 2008, he represented Zaragoza in the Spanish Congress for Chunta Aragonesista (Aragonese Union), an Aragonese political party. Biography José Antonio Labordeta was born in Zaragoza, Aragón, in 1935. In 1953, his father died. José Antonio went to live with his older brother Miguel, who was married and fourteen years his senior. In 1963, Labordeta married Juana de Grandes, and the newly wed couple moved to Teruel. Two of their daughters, Ana and Ángela, were born while the couple was living there. H

José Antonio Santesteban

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José Antonio Santesteban (18 October 1835 in San Sebastián – 21 September 1906 in San Sebastián) was a Basque composer, the most famous of the musical family of that name (his father was José Juan Santesteban and his son was pianist Jesús de Santesteban), who wrote the first opera in Basque, Pudente, to a libretto by Serafin Baroja. In 1879 he succeeded his father’s post as organist in Santa Maria, Donostia. In 1863 he inaugurated the installment of a Cavaillé-Coll organ in Santa Maria, Donostia and in 1879 he succeeded his father’s post as organist of the parish. Works * Pudente, the first Basque opera (2 acts, 15 music numbers, including Gernikako Arbola) * 12 masses for grand orchestra * 2 Misereres (1 for 4 voices) * Psalms * Motets * 24 Préludes pour piano, op. 84 (with dedication “to my friend Tomás Bretón”) * Cantos y Bailes Tradicionales Vascongados References External links * * José Antonio Santesteban in Enciclopedia Auñamendi

José de Nebra

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José Melchor Baltasar Gaspar Nebra Blasco (January 6, 1702 – July 11, 1768) was a Spanish composer and organist from the Baroque period. His work combines Spanish traditions with the Italian style of his day. Biography Family José de Nebra was born in Calatayud and was taught by his father, José Antonio Nebra Mezquita (1672–1748), organist and master of choirboys at the Cathedral of Cuenca from 1711 until 1729 before becoming chapel master. His two brothers were also musicians: Francisco Javier Nebra Blasco (1705–1741), organist of La Seo in Zaragoza until he moved to Cuenca in 1729, then succeeded by his brother Joaquín Ignacio Nebra Blasco (1709–1782) till his death. Career José de Nebra relocated to Madrid early in his career, where he served as the organist at the Descalzas Reales convent in 1719. In 1722, he joined the chapel of the Osuna noble household. There, he started composing music for commercial theatres in Madrid alongside Antonio Literes and Antonio Duni. Nebra then became an organist at the Descalzas Reales convent and at the royal chapel on May 22, 1724. That August, Nebra was appointed supernumerary organist with the promise of a promotion to first organist if an

José de Torres

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José de Torres y Martínez Bravo (16701738) was a Spanish composer, organist, music theorist and music publisher. Biography Torres was born in Madrid, where he served as organist of the capilla real from 1697. With the arrival of the Bourbons, Torres was expelled from the capilla, but avoided exile and was rehabilitated. From 1702 he established a music printing press, Imprenta de Música, the first in Iberia. With the continuing exile of Sebastián Durón, Torres served the former Duke of Anjou, now Philip V of Spain, as maestro de capilla and rector of the boys choir (Colegio de Niños Cantorcicos), replacing the interim maestros Matías Cabrera and Nicolás Humanes, in 1707. He held this post until his death. He died in Madrid. He was the author of various musical works. These include “Reglas generales para acompañar órgano, clavicordio o arpa” (Madrid, 1702) a work covering accompaniment techniques for organ, clavichord and harp and a book of masses dedicated to Philip V of Spain. His work “Arte de canto llano” was published in 1705 and subsequently augmented was a “corrected and augmented” edition of the work by the same name of Francisco de Montanos. It contains a number of composit

José Evangelista

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José Evangelista (5 August 1943 – 10 January 2023) was a Spanish composer and music educator who was based in Montreal, Canada. He was professor of composition at the Université de Montréal from 1979 to 2009. A member of the Canadian League of Composers, the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, Evangelista was known for his commitment to contemporary classical music and non-Western music. Life and career Born in Valencia on 5 August 1943, At the same time he pursued music courses at the Valencia Conservatory and earned a premier prix in music composition there in 1967. In 1969 Evangelista moved to Canada and settled in the city of Montreal. From 1970 to 1973 he was a pupil of André Prévost at the Université de Montréal where he earned a Master of Music in composition. From 1979 he taught on the music faculty of the Université de Montréal; among his students were composers Simon Bertrand, Analia Llugdar, Samy Moussa and Ana Sokolovic. Awards In 1974 Evangelista was awarded first prize in the Confederación Espanola de Cajas de Ahorros Contest in Madrid for his En guise de fête. * Sonatine for flute and piano, 1971 * Un mur à peine for

José Ferrer (guitarist)

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José Ferrer Esteve de Fujadas (in 19th-century France known as “Joseph Ferrer”) (13 March 1835 – 7 March 1916) was a Spanish guitarist and composer. Life Ferrer was born in Torroella de Montgrí, Girona, and studied guitar with his father, a guitarist and collector of sheet music, before continuing his studies with José Brocá. In 1882, he left Spain for Paris in order to teach at the Institut Rudy and at the Académie Internationale de Musique, also becoming the official guitarist of the Comédie Française, and remained in Paris for 16 years. Ferrer gave regular performances as a soloist. He taught at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona from 1898 to 1901. Following a period of moving between Barcelona and Paris, he settled permanently in Barcelona in 1905, where he died. Music Most of Ferrer’s compositions were written for guitar but, being a deeply religious man, he also wrote some sacred music. His works for guitar solo and duo resemble the fashionable salon music of his time, bearing titles such as Le Charme de la nuit (“Charm of the Night”) and La Danse des Naïades (“Dance of the Naiads”). One of his most popular pieces was his opus 1, Recuerdos de Montgri.

José Herrando

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José Herrando (Valencia, c. 1720/1721-Madrid, 1763) was a Spanish violinist and composer. Career Herrando was a friend of the writer and mathematician Diego de Torres Villarroel and a fixed musician for some theater companies in Madrid, for which he composed several pieces, such as for the comedy Manos blancas no ofenden (White hands do not offend) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. He spent some time in the service of the Duke of Arcos theater, to which he dedicated his Arte y puntual explicación del modo de tocar el violín con perfección y facilidad (Art and timely explanation of how to play the violin with perfection and ease) published in Paris in 1756. This was the first published attempt by a Spaniard at teaching this instrument. Its front featured an engraving by Carmona with his portrait. Herrando was first violinist for the Royal Chapel of the Incarnation when, in 1754 he wrote Seis sonatinas para violín de cinco cuerdas y bajo armónico, no cifrado (Six sonatinas for five-string violin and bass) dedicated to the castrati singer Carlo Broschi, Farinelli, a musician who was with the Spanish court during the reign of Felipe V, whose soprano voice was the only one capable of takin

José Inzenga

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José Inzenga y Castellanos (Madrid, 3 June 1828 – 28 June 1891) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas and professor at the Conservatory of Madrid and academic of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and one of the pioneers of folkloric studies and the modern zarzuela in the second half of the 19th century. Biography Inzenga was the son of Italian singing master Ángel Inzenga and Felicia Castellanos. He studied music at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. He then traveled to Paris, where he pursued extended training in music, winning two silver medals in harmony and piano playing. He joined the circle of the Liceo Artístico y Literario de Madrid, founded in 1837, serving on its board of directors and thereby contributing the production of works and organizing jam sessions. The Revolutions of 1848 forced him to return to Spain, and the Sociedad Artístico Musical de Socorros Mutuos, Teatro del Circo, and the creation of Teatro de la Zarzuela. References External links *

José Luis Torregrosa

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José Luis Torregrosa (December 4, 1944 in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo – November 5, 2007 in Málaga) was a Spanish singer, musician, composer, and record producer. He worked with numerous artists including Julio Iglesias, Salvatore Adamo, Nino Bravo, and Massiel. His career was terminated in 1996 after suffering from cancer of the larynx; he later died from lung cancer. Biography Early years Torregrosa was born in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo. He got married very young and came to live in Torremolinos, Malaga. There he began to work in music, combining it with other jobs that came to him and left him more money at that time. Some venues hired him some nights as a singer, he stood out a lot for his powerful voice, which was compared in many cases with a multitude of artists. Torregrosa began to shine at night in Torremolinos and people admired him, and listened with pleasure to Torregrosa’s talent. The singer began to become an emblematic sign of Torremolinos in the 60s. He dominated many styles, people danced with him from a ballad to a salsa. Musical career In 1968, Torregrosa signed a contract with the “Mi Bohío” nightclub, Torregrosa sang there where they offered him a good sala

José Luis Turina

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José Luis Turina (born 1952, in Madrid) is a Spanish composer, grandson of Joaquín Turina. He studied composition under Antón García Abril, Román Alís, Rodolfo Halffter and Carmelo Bernaola at the conservatories of Barcelona and Madrid, and then, with a grant from the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs for studying at the Spanish Fine Arts Academy in Rome, he attended the classes in composition given by Franco Donatoni at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. In 1981, his work Meeting Point won the First Prize in the International Composition Contest organised by the Orchestra of the Valencia Conservatory to mark their first centenary. In 1986 he won the First Prize of the Musical Composition Contest “Queen Sofía”, from the Ferrer Salat Foundation, with his piece Ocnos (orchestral music on poems by Luis Cernuda). He was awarded Spain’s Premio Nacional de Música for composition in 1996. Teacher of Harmony in the Conservatories of Cuenca and Madrid since 1981, in 1993 he was designated technical advisor of the Ministry for Education and Science, for the reformation of musical teaching in the realm of the new education law of 1990. In February 2001 he was appointed artistic director of th

José María Cano

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José María Cano Andrés (born 21 February 1959) is a Spanish visual artist, musician, composer, and record producer. From 1982 to 1998, he was a member and principal composer of the Spanish pop-rock band Mecano. Since 1998, he works primarily in the visual arts. Musician José María Cano was born in Madrid, and gave his first concerts as a university student there. There he met Ana Torroja, who would become the lead singer in their pop band Mecano. Their first album, also called Mecano (1981) and produced with the financial backing of his father, included the hit “Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar”. Both José and his brother Nacho composed songs for all their albums. In 1984, José began to play piano and changed his method of composition. He began to compose for other singers, such as La Mafia, Chayanne, Ana Belén, Amaya Uranga, Sara Montiel, Julio Iglesias, Miguel Bosé, Alaska, Françoise Hardy, Sarah Brightman, Simone, Mario Frangoulis etc. He composed songs that would become well known in the Spanish-speaking world, such as Hijo de la Luna, Lia, Mujer contra mujer, Me cuesta tanto olvidarte, Aire, Tiempo de vals, Cruz de navajas, Naturaleza muerta, Una rosa es una rosa and several others, w

José Melchor Gomis

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José Melchor Gomis y Colomer (6 January 1791 – 4 August 1836) was a Spanish Romantic composer. Career He was born in Ontinyent, Vall d’Albaida, Valencia Province. He served as the music director for an artillery regiment during the Napoleonic Wars. An early melodrame voiced by Gomis was performed in Valencia in 1817. He composed the music for the Himno de Riego, named after the rebellious General Riego (1784-1823), which has since been used as the national anthem by various republican governments of Spain. Gomis’s political views led him to live in exile after the accession of Ferdinand VII in 1823, first in Paris and then in London. In both cities, he was a friend of fellow exile and composer Santiago Masarnau, whom he may have introduced to London musical life. In Paris, Gomis wrote a successful singing method, published in 1826 with dedications to Gioacchino Rossini and François-Adrien Boieldieu. In London, his choral work L’inverno was performed in 1827. In 1830, his opera Aben-Humeya was performed in Paris. Gomis’s Paris operas Diable à Seville (1831) (staged with the support of Rossini) and Le revenant (1836) gained respectful reviews from Hector Berlioz. Le portefaix, the mo

José Muñoz Molleda

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José Muñoz Molleda (1903–1988) was a Spanish composer, journalist, jurist and politician. He was one of the “músicos del ‘27.” He was born in La Línea de la Concepción in 1903, where he first studied music under Luis Criado. He later studied in Madrid in the Real Conservatorio, where he received prizes in piano, harmony and composition. He also visited Rome where he received lessons from Respighi. While preparing for a career in music, Muñoz Molleda also studied in the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes between 1922 and 1926. Eventually, however, he elected to devote himself to music and abandoned the idea of being a painter. In 1932, his tone poem “En la tierra alta” was awarded first prize in a national competition, and the following year he was awarded the “Gran Premio di Roma”, where he went to study in 1934. It was in Rome that his first string quartet was awarded a prize by the Regia Academia di Santa Cecilia. This success was followed in 1936 by his success of his oratorio La Resurrección de Lázaro. In 1951 he was again awarded a national prize, this one for his trio for flute, cello and piano, and eight years later this was followed by a Ciudad de Barcelona prize for his symp

José Nieto (composer)

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José Nieto (born March 1, 1942) is a Spanish composer, orchestrator, songwriter, conductor and drum player. He is best known for writing films scores, such as Mad Love (2001), El bosque animado (1987), The Fencing Master (1992), Carmen (2003), The Turkish Passion (1994) or I Know Who You Are (2000). For television he has composed music for the BBC in series like Crusades(1995) or From the Heart of the World (1990), and other international and Spanish series such as Captain James Cook (1988), Armada (1988), Teresa de Jesús (1984) or Los jinetes del alba. He has collaborated in theater with Miguel Narros in “El burlador de Sevilla” and “Salomé”, with María Ruiz in the “Serrana de la Vera” and “The portrait of Dorian Gray”, with José Luis Gómez in “Bodas que fueron famosas del Pingajo y la Fandanga” and in “Life is a Dream”, with Adolfo Marsillach in “Los locos de Valencia” and with Josefina Molina in “No se ser …”, among others. He also has worked in the field of ballet. Her works in this field include “Tres Danzas Españolas”, “Ritmos”, “Romance de Luna”, “Don Juan Tenorio”, “Dualia” and “El Corazón de Piedra Verde”, all composed for the National Ballet of Spain. For the Andalusian

Josep Anselm Clavé

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Josep Anselm Clavé i Camps (21 April 1824 – 24 February 1874) also known as José Anselmo Clavé, was a Catalan politician, composer and writer, founder of the choral movement in Catalonia and a promoter of the associative movement. He was the initiator of choral singing in Catalonia. His first experiences in the musical field were marked by the plight of his family. Clavé was forced to earn a living by singing for coffee in taverns accompanied by a guitar, when he was 17 years old. The contact with the workers, gathering in those places, led him to take them out from the taverns and meet them in choral societies. He acquired notions of violin, flute and music theory, which allowed him to compose lyrics and music for songs. In 1845 he organized Aurora, a choral society that would later become La Fraternitat (The Fraternity), a society of mutual help and the first Iberian chorale. In 1857, Clavé renamed it Euterpe. The Euterpenses societies, spread throughout Catalonia and the Valencian Country were the origin of the Cors de Clavé. As a politician, he was an early supporter of Abdó Terrades and Narcís Monturiol. In 1843 he took part in a revolt against General Espartero and in 1845 wa

Josep Maria Ventura i Casas

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Josep Maria Ventura i Casas (Alcalá la Real (Jaén), 1817 – Figueres (Catalonia), 1875), popularly known as Pep Ventura, was a Spanish musician and composer from Catalonia who consolidated the long sardana and reformed the cobla, adding instruments to give it its current formation. He is considered the father of the modern Sardana by the profound transformation that he printed to these compositions, based on giving it greater musical extension, in the inclusion of new instruments, especially the tenora (instrument creation of Andreu Turon) from 1849 and its arrangement in the cobla, which will imitate another musical formations of this type. His performance before the Queen Isabella II of Spain in the Monastery of Montserrat together with other artists of the Renaixença consecrated him as a figure in the Catalan cultural world. Life Ventura’s family came from the Catalan region of Empordà. He was born in Andalusia, where his father, a low-ranking military officer, was assigned to participate in the operations of repression of banditry that followed the War of Spanish Independence. At the age of two years, the family moved again to Catalonia, to the Gironan town of Roses in 1819, whe

Joxe Mendizabal

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Jose Javier Mendizabal Aldalur (born 1970), known as Joxe Mendizabal, is a Spanish musician, composer, music producer and record producer. He has worked and created music for various music groups, TV shows and movies, such as Betizu Taldea, Egin kantu! (ETB 1), ¡Menuda decisión! (Cuatro), Vaya Semanita (ETB 2), Oh Happy Day (ETB 1), Goenkale, Bago!az or Hoy quiero confesar. Early life Joxe Mendizabal was born in 1970, in Amasa-Villabona, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country (Spain). Career In 1986, together with others, he created the Gipuzkoan folk music group Xaximiku with which he released two albums, one in 1986 and a second in 1989. Later he joined the rock group Egan, together with Xabier Saldias, with whom he gave several concerts and recorded three discs. Medizabal plays the accordion and he defines himself as an accordionist (soinujole, in Basque). In 2012 he released his first solo album called Soinujolea naiz (I am an accordionist, in Basque), in which he claimed himself above all as an accordionist. In the year 2000 he began working for EITB Media as a musician, composer, arranger and music producer. In 2001 he was the music producer for Betizu and later for the music group Betizu

Juan Arañés

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Juan Arañés (died c. 1649) was a Spanish baroque composer. His tonos and villancicos follow the style of those preserved in the Cancionero of Kraków. Biography Arañés was born in Aragon, at an unknown date. After studies in Alcalá de Henares, he was maestro di cappella at the Spanish embassy in Rome, where in 1624 he published his Libro Segundo de tonos y villancicos. The first book is lost. The Libro Segundo collection contains 12 pieces of 1, 2, and 3 voices, tonos humanos and villancicos, the final being a vocal chaconne for 4 voices, A la vida bona which features in the works of Miguel de Cervantes. The collection is notable for its guitar accompaniment in Italian notation. He died in or after 1649. Works, editions and recordings *A la vida bona for 4 voices - on (i) Musica en el Quijote y otras obras de Miguel de Cervantes, Orphénica Lyra (Glossa, 2005) and (ii) Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quijote de la Mancha: Romances y Músicas dir. Jordi Savall, Hesperion XXI, (Alia Vox, 2006). Nuevo Sarao performed his works at the Festival de Música Antiga dels Pirineus in 2011 and recorded his complete works. Notes References

Juan Bautista Cabanilles

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Juan Bautista José Cabanilles (also Juan Bautista Josep, Valencian: Joan) (6 September 1644 in Algemesí near Valencia – 29 April 1712 in Valencia) was a Spanish organist and composer at Valencia Cathedral. Biography He probably began his musical career as a singer in a choir of a local church. Later he studied to become a priest in the cathedral at Valencia, which included lessons in music. On 15 May 1665, he was named the assistant organist of the cathedral. A year later, upon the death of his predecessor, he became the principal organist. On 22 September 1668 he was ordained as a priest. He kept his position as principal organist for 45 years, but from 1703 on his health often necessitated that a substitute be found. From 1675 to 1677 he also took charge of teaching the children in the cathedral choir. No portrait or likeness of Cabanilles is known to exist; the portrait accompanying certain Facebook pages and other internet articles is of the botanist Antonio José Cavanilles (1745–1804). Works Many of Cabanilles’s compositions are virtuosic and advanced for their time, but generally, he is in the Spanish tradition of keyboard music following 16th century patterns. The majority o

Juan Bautista Comes

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Juan Bautista Comes (ca. 1582 – 5 January 1643), per Valencian spelling Joan Baptista Comes, was a Spanish Baroque composer who was born and died in Valencia. It is known that before 1613 he held posts as Maestro de Capilla in Lleida at its cathedral and in Valencia at the Colegio del Patriarca. Also in Valencia, at its cathedral, from 1613 to 1619, he held a post as Maestro de Capilla. From 1619 to 1629 he was Second Maestro in Madrid at the Habsburg court, during the period when Felipe III and Felipe IV governed. Nevertheless, he returned to his old post at Valencia Cathedral in 1632, which he held until his death. He studied under Juan Ginés Pérez. In the field of composition he is best known for his villancicos such as Terremoto, que ruido and for his Christian sacred polychoral works. His villancicos make use of Spanish, Portuguese and Galician texts. Recordings *Missa de Batalla. Victoria Musicae Josep R. Gil-Tàrrega: La Mà de Guido 2006 *In nativitate Domini. Victoria Musicae Josep R. Gil-Tàrrega: La Mà de Guido 2005 *Danzas del Corpus Christi. Juan Bautista Comes (ca. 1582-1643) Capella Saetabis. Rodrigo Madrid: SEdeM CD 17. 2006 *In festis Corporis Christi. Victoria Musica

Juan Bermudo

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Juan Bermudo (c. 1510) was a Spanish Friar Minor who is best known as a composer, music theorist and mathematician. Life Bermudo entered the Franciscan Order in 1525, belonging to the Province of Andalusia. He was subsequently sent to study at the University of Alcalá, where he resided at the College of Saint Peter and Paul, for friars studying at the University. He then dedicated his energies to preaching to the people of that region. The esteem he gained from the other friars of the province can be seen in his election on 24 June 1560 as a Definitor of the province. A subsequent long period of illness led Bermudo to retire from his service as a preacher. During his recovery, he began to read various manuscripts of musical theory and began to develop his untrained, native talents in this art. Musician Bermudo’s first published work resulting from his studies was his Libro primero de la Declaración de instrumentos (1549), dedicated to King John III of Portugal. It was followed the subsequent year by Comiença el Arte Tripharia. In his Perfecting the perfect instrument of 1555, a treatise on playing the vihuela, Bermudo lists the maestro de capilla of the Royal Chapel of Granada, Ber

Juan Carlos Calderón

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Juan Carlos Calderón López de Arróyabe (7 July 1936 – 26 November 2012) was a Spanish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Career Born in Santander, he was the author of “Eres tú”, which, performed by Mocedades, came second in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973. It was an important hit in several countries, including the United States. He wrote another three Eurovision entries: “Tú volverás” by Sergio y Estíbaliz in 1975, “La fiesta terminó” by Paloma San Basilio in 1985, and “Nacida para amar” by Nina in 1989; as well as an entry for the OTI Festival: “Amor de medianoche”, which ended up runner-up in 1975 performed by Cecilia. He also wrote music for several movies, including the horror films Vengeance of the Zombies (1973) and Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974). In 1968 he won an Ondas Award. He wrote songs for artists like Luis Miguel (who received a nomination for Song of the Year at Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 with a Calderón song, “O Tú o Ninguna”), Julio Iglesias, Joan Manuel Serrat, Donald Byrd, Stéphane Grappelli, Bill Coleman, Pedro Iturralde, Herb Alpert, Chayanne, Nino Bravo, Camilo Sesto, Paloma San Basilio, Rocío Dúrcal, David Bustamante, Mari Trini, José

Juan Cornago

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Juan Cornago (Johannes Cornago) ( 1400 – after 1475) was a Spanish composer of the early Renaissance. He is the earliest Spanish composer with a large number of surviving works. After the death of Alfonso in 1466 he continued to serve as chief almoner in the chapel under Alfonso’s son, Fernando I of Naples. Cornago was the leading songwriter at the Aragonese court in Naples. Later in 1475 he transferred to the chapel of Fernando the Catholic in Spain, where he is last recorded singing in the court. His Spanish songs are some of the earliest polyphonic canciones written in Castilian. He sourced the poetry from famed Castilian poets, such as Marqués de Santillana, Juan de Mena, and Pedro de Torellas. Five of his nine surviving Spanish songs feature text written by known poets. Morte o merce, one of his Italian songs from his time in Fernando I’s court, is through-composed and representative of the humanist movement which emphasized words over music. This can be seen in its simple musical style and treatment of the text. Much of Cornago’s music was arranged and altered by other composers of the time. For instance, Johannes Ockeghem added two voices to his Qu’es mi vida preguntays. The

Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga

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Juan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola (27 January 1806 – 17 January 1826) was a Spanish Basque composer. He was nicknamed “the Spanish Mozart” after he died, because, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was both a child prodigy and an accomplished composer who died young. They also shared the same first and second baptismal names; and they shared the same birthday (due to both having been born on the feast of St. John Chrysostom), 27 January (fifty years apart). Life Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga was born in Bilbao, Biscay, on what would have been Mozart’s fiftieth birthday. His father (Juan Simón de Arriaga) and the boy’s older brother first taught him music. Juan Simón had some musical talent and at age seventeen Juan Crisóstomo was an organist at a church in Berriatúa. sent Juan Crisóstomo to Paris, where in November of that year Arriaga began his studies. Music The amount of Arriaga’s music that has survived to the present day is quite small, reflecting his early death. It includes: * Opera: Arriaga wrote an opera, Los esclavos felices (“The Happy Slaves”), in 1820 when he was fourteen. It was produced in Bilbao. Only the overture and some fragments have survived. * Sympho

Juan de Anchieta

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Juan de Anchieta (1462 – 1523) was a leading Spanish Basque composer of the Renaissance, he served as a singer and chapel master in the royal court of the Catholic Monarchs and their successors. Anchieta was closely associated with Queen Isabella I of Castile, Prince John, Queen Joanna of Castile, and the future Emperor Charles V, for whom he acted as a music teacher. Biography Juan de Anchieta was born in Azpeitia, in 1462 to a leading Basque family, his mother was a great-aunt of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. He may have studied at Salamenca University with music professor Diego de Fermoselle, older brother of Juan del Encina. He officially joined the royal chapel of Queen Isabella as a chaplain and singer on 6 February 1489. At the time of his appointment, he was approximately twenty-seven years old. His initial annual salary was 20,000 maravedís, which was calculated from the standard 8,000 maravedís for chaplains alongside an additional 12,000 maravedís allocated for lay singers. Returning to the Queen’s service after the Prince’s death in 1497, and in 1504, to that of the new Queen, Joanna the Mad. In her service he travelled to Flanders with Pierre de

Juan de Espinosa (composer)

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Juan de Espinosa (died 1528) was a Spanish composer and music theorist. He claimed to have been in the service of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo, until Mendoza’s death in 1495. He then transferred to the service of another member of the Mendoza family, Cardinal Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Archbishop of Seville, until this archbishop’s death in 1502. In 1507, he assumed the role of maestro de capilla at the Toledo Cathedral. Life Espinosa was a bass singer in the Toledo cathedral’s choir in 1508, though he may have sung there previously. In 1509, his teaching duties were taken over by Francisco de Lugones, and in 1513, after a dispute with the chapter, he was relegated to only a singer. In 1514, he took a leave of absence, and his name reappears in the cathedral’s records in 1528, when his position was advertised and he is presumed to have died. This 14 year gap in the cathedral records was likely due to his new position as an archpriest at Saint Eulalia taking a significant amount of his time. After his service as an archpriest, he went on to become a canon at the Burgos Cathedral. His controversy with Gonzalo Martínez de Bizcargui, a well documented Spanish

Juan de Triana

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Juan de Triana (fl. 1460 – 1490, died 28 January 1494) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance period, active in the second half of the 15th century during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. Pope Sixtus IV issued a bull on 9 February 1478 that listed De Triana as Prebendary of the Cathedral of Sevilla for at least a year before. He later moved to the Cathedral of Toledo, where it was recorded that in 1483 he was a teacher of six children in the Cathedral, with a salary of 18,000 maravedíes, a significant quantity at the time. Possibly Triana held this position until 1490, when he was replaced by Pedro de Lagarto. He died in Seville on 28 January 1494, and was buried near the gate of the chapel of the Virgen de la Antigua. In his will, he left a bequest to endow a chaplaincy to sing twenty-five masses a month for his soul at the altar of San Juan Bautista, near his place of burial. Works Twenty works by Triana have been preserved, all in the Cancionero de la Colombina. Four of the works are religious and the remaining are secular. Three of them also have replicas in the Cancionero de Palacio. One of the religious pieces is a fragment of the Song of the Sibyl in Castilian, and the

Juan Esquivel Barahona

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Juan de Esquivel Barahona (c. 1560 – after 1623) was the most prominent of the last generation of Spanish church composers of the Renaissance era. Although he never served in one of the major Spanish cathedrals, his music was known throughout Spain during the early seventeenth century. Life Juan de Esquivel was born in or near Ciudad Rodrigo, an ancient cathedral city southwest of Salamanca. He began service as a choirboy in the cathedral in 1568 and, according to choir chaplain Antonio Sánchez Cabañas, he was a student of Juan Navarro, the cathedral’s choirmaster during Esquivel’s youth. Esquivel’s first appointment as maestro de capilla came in 1581, when he was named to the post in Oviedo, the capital of the province of Asturias in Northern Spain. He left that position in 1585 and took a similar position at Calahorra Cathedral in La Rioja. In 1591 he returned to Ciudad Rodrigo as choirmaster, where he remained until his death. Music Esquivel composed only sacred music. His output survives in three publications, printed in Salamanca during the early seventeenth century; a fourth book (Salamanca, 1623) of motets and instrumental music was reported by Sanchez-Cabañas in his manuscr

Juan Francés de Iribarren

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Juan Francés de Iribarren (1699 in Sangüesa – 2 September 1767 in Málaga) was a Spanish late baroque composer. Life and career Iribarren was christened on 24 March 1699 at the Church of St. James the Great in Sangüesa. He was a choirboy in the capilla real under José de Torres, who in 1717 recommended him for the post of organist at the Old Cathedral of Salamanca, where he remained for 16 years until 1733. In 1733 he came second in the competition for maestro de capilla at the Cathedral of Malaga, and was awarded the position when the winner, Manuel Martinez Delgado, died suddenly. In 1741, Irribaren’s salary was raised to prevent him taking the post of maestro di cappella of the Cathedral of Valladolid, thereafter he remained in Malaga until his retirement, a year before his death. He is buried in the cathedral. Works According to the New Grove extant works include: * 521 vocal works in Spanish: :390 villancicos, 109 cantatas, 22 arias * 385 vocal works in Latin: : 120 motets, 69 psalms, 39 antiphons, 27 masses, 26 lamentations, 25 hymns, 21 misereres, 19 magnificats, 14 sequentia, 6 responsories, 5 invitatorios, 5 nunc dimittis, 4 Oficios de difuntos, 3 lecciones, 1 Stabat Mater,

Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla

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Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla (ca. 15901664) was a Renaissance-style Spanish composer and cantor, most of whose career took place in Mexico. Life and career Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla was born in Málaga, Spain. He received his musical education from Francisco Vásquez, who was the maestro de capilla of Málaga Cathedral. Padilla took up the position of maestro at the collegiate church in Jerez de la Frontera in 1612. While at Jerez, he unsuccessfully contended for the office of maestro at Málaga Cathedral in 1613, losing out to Estêvão de Brito. Padilla remained at Jerez until 1616, when he was appointed Maestro at Cádiz Cathedral. After Fernandes’ death, he was appointed maestro of the cathedral in 1629. By 1645, Padilla was overseeing 14 choir boys and 28 cantors. Some of the musicians under Padilla would themselves go on to become important figures in the music of New Spain, such as Francisco López Capillas. Works The majority of his vast output (over 700 pieces survive) include sacred motets, often for double choir, in the Renaissance style or stile antico as well as sacred villancicos. It often includes accompaniments for organ or various stringed instruments. Bibliography Padilla’s

Juan Hidalgo Codorniu

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Juan Hidalgo Codorniu (14 October 1927 – 26 February 2018 ) was a Spanish composer, poet, an action and visual artist. Biography Hidalgo was born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands. After studying piano and composition in Barcelona and Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Bruno Maderna, he participated in the XII Internationale Ferienkurse Für Neue Musik festival in Darmstadt in 1957 with his work “Ukanga”, a serial-structural composition for five chamber ensembles. With this piece, Hidalgo became the first Spanish composer to take part in that festival. In 1958 Juan Hidalgo met the Darmstadt American composers John Cage and David Tudor who were crucial to his musical and career development. In 1964 he founded the ZAJ group along with Walter Marchetti, Ramón Barce, and was later joined by Esther Ferrer and the writer José Luis Castillejo. ZAJ was an exponent of Spanish neodadaism with influences of zen and Marcel Duchamp’s vision of the arts. There were said to be similarities in the philosophy and aesthetics of ZAJ and that of the Japanese Gutai and American Fluxus artistic movements. In 1966 he participated alongside Gustav Metzger, Otto Muehl, Wolf Vostell, Hermann Nitsch and others in the

Juan Hidalgo de Polanco

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Juan Hidalgo de Polanco (28 September 1614 – 31 March 1685) was a Spanish composer and harpist who became the most influential composer of his time in the Hispanic world writing the music for the first two operas created in Spanish. He is considered by many to be the father of Spanish opera and of the zarzuela. Hidalgo was born and died in Madrid. In either 1630 or 1631 he became a harpist at the Spanish royal chapel where he was responsible for the accompaniment of both sacred and secular music and also played for the King of Spain, King Philip IV. Around 1645 he began to serve as leader of the court’s chamber musicians and chief composer of villancicos, chamber songs, and music for the theatre. He personifies the origins of Spanish opera with the work Celos aun del aire matan (es) by the illustrious playwright Calderon de la Barca, based on the story of Cephalus and Procris told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, released on 5 December 1660 to celebrate the third birthday of prince Felipe Prospero. It is considered the oldest opera preserved in Spain. Juan Hidalgo dominated secular and theatrical music at the Spanish court until his death. He was a prolific composer and enjoyed a great dea

Juan Manén

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Juan Manén (or Joan Manén; 14 March 1883 – 26 June 1971) was a Spanish violinist and composer, born in Barcelona. As a child, his progress in music was so rapid that his father exhibited him as a piano prodigy. Then, having studied the violin under Clemente Ibarguren, he debuted as a violinist, and met with such success that in Germany he was compared to his famous countryman Sarasate. Likewise he attracted much attention as a composer, not only in Spain, but perhaps to even a greater degree in Germany, where he resided at different times for protracted periods. His works comprise: the operas Giovanni di Napoli (1903), Der Fackeltanz (1909) and Neró i Acté (1928) with his own libretto; the symphonic poem Nova Catalonia; at least three violin concertos; “Fantasia - Sonata” for guitar; a suite for violin and piano; a piano quartet, a string quartet, and a number of exquisite miniatures for violin and orchestra. He also made a completion-cum-arrangement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in C, which otherwise only survives in its first 259 measures. Life Joan Manén was born in Barcelona, Catalonia. Precociously gifted, he learnt solfège and piano with his father from the age of three, and

Juan Manuel Cañizares

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Juan Manuel Cañizares (born 1966) is a Spanish flamenco guitarist and composer. He is a winner of the “Premio Nacional de Música” (1982) and “Premio de la Música” (2008) awards. Biography In 1966 Juan Manuel Cañizares was born in Sabadell, Catalonia, and at age 6 started to play guitar with his brother Rafael Cañizares. In 1982, he won the “Premio Nacional de Guitarra de la Peña Los Cernícalos” in Jerez de la Frontera, and then started to collaborate with flamenco and jazz musicians such as: Enrique Morente, Camarón de la Isla, María Pagés, Pepe de Lucía, Joan Manuel Serrat, Alejandro Sanz, Rocío Jurado, Peter Gabriel, Al Di Meola, Mike Stern, Peter Erskine, Vince Mendoza, Michael Brecker, Marc Almond, La Fura dels Baus, The Chieftains, etc. In 1989 he started to collaborate with Paco de Lucía and during next 10 years, he has performed in “Solo, Duo, Trío” and “Paco de Lucía Septet”. In 2011, Cañizares was invited by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to their European Concert at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, and played Concierto de Aranjuez with the Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Since 2003, Cañizares is a professor of flamenco guitar at the Escola Superior de Música de C

Juan María Guelbenzu Fernández

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Juan María Guelbenzu Fernández was a Spanish pianist and composer. Biography He was born in Pamplona, Navarra 27 December 1819. Juan had been close with composers Chopin, Thalberg and Liszt. He started to study piano at Pamplona and then at the Madrid Conservatory, where he won the piano prize. After that, he moved on a scholarship to Paris. In 1841 he replaced Pedro Albéniz as organist at the Royal Palace of Madrid. He was the piano teacher for the Infanta Isabel, Countess of Girgenti and her sisters. Fernández had been Involved in the development of Spanish symphony and in the promotion of German music. On November 13, 1844, he played piano four hands with Franz Liszt at the Teatro del Príncipe(now the Teatro Español (Madrid)), in Madrid. During this time, he also came in contact with the composer Mikhail Glinka while his visit to Barcelona. He co-founded the Sociedad de Cuartetos in 1863 with Jesús de Monasterio, of which he was a regular pianist. Fernández also developed a remarkable career as a composer, working from Romanticism and to Spanish musical nationalism. He assiduously used the Zortziko and the Jota as cultured musical forms, highlighting among his works intimate pie

Juan Morel Campos

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Juan Morel Campos (16 May 1857 – 12 May 1896), sometimes erroneously spelled Juan Morell Campos, was a Puerto Rican composer, considered by many to be responsible for taking the genre of danza to its highest level. He composed over 550 musical works before he died unexpectedly at age 38. Early years Morel Campos (full name: Juan Nepomuceno Morel Campos ) was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Manuel Morel Araujo, from the Dominican Republic, and Juana de Dios Campos Collazo, from Venezuela. He began to study music at the young age of eight in his hometown under the guidance of Antonio Egipciaco. Morel Campos was a student of Puerto Rican composer and pianist Gonzalo de J. Núñez (1850 - 1915 ), whose students also included the internationally known musicians and composers Manuel Gregorio Tavárez and Arístides Chavier Arévalo. Morel Campos learned to play practically every brass instrument and eventually became one of the founders and directors of the “Ponce Firemen’s Band” (La Banda de Bomberos del Parque de Bombas de Ponce). The legendary band was later renamed the Ponce Municipal Band. First composition Later, Morel Campos became a student of the composer Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, “The

Juan Navarro Hispalensis

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Juan Navarro of Seville, hence the epithet Hispalensis, (Marchena c. 1530 – Palencia 25 September 1580) was a Spanish composer. He is not related to the Mexican composer Juan Navarro Gaditanus, (i.e. Juan Navarro of Cadiz, c. 1550 – c. 1610). Biography Navarro gave his place of birth as Marchena when inducted as chapel-master at Ciudad Rodrigo. Marchena is some 30 miles (50km) from Seville, but in its province and geographically near enough to justify the epithet Hispalensis, which appears on the title page of his 1590 Roman publication (below). Navarro sang as a tenor in the choir of the Duke of Arcos in Marchena (by 1549, when Cristóbal de Morales was chapel-master), then in the cathedrals of Jaén and Málaga. In 1553 he competed for the position of maestro de capilla in Málaga left vacant by the death of Morales, a competition won by Francisco Guerrero. In 1563 he was appointed maestro de capilla of the Cathedral of Avila, then in 1566 of Salamanca where he was appointed without being required to compete for the post. Avila offered to double his salary to keep him, but the position at Salamanca was more attractive. At Salamanca he taught composer Gutierre Fernández. He left Salam

Juan Pérez Roldán

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Juan Pérez Roldán (1604–1672) was a Spanish composer. He was born in Calahorra and likely died in Zaragoza, Spain. Roldán began as a choirboy at Calahorra Cathedral in 1617. He was appointed maestro de capilla at the collegiate church of Berlanga in 1636, Calahorra Cathedral in 1639, Málaga Cathedral in 1642, La Encarnación in 1648, Las Descalzas in 1655, Segovia Cathedral in 1664, León Cathedral in 1671, and finally spent his last years at El Pilar de Zaragoza, 1671–1672. He also served briefly as the claustrero and choirmaster at the Toledo Cathedral in 1636, and presbyter and the king’s chaplain in 1661. A letter from King João IV of Portugal in 1654 describes Roldán’s fame, but also describes him as “lazy and prone to attributing others’ work to himself”. In 1670, while being presbyter and the king’s chaplain, as well as maestro de capilla at La Encarnación and Segovia Cathedral, he disappeared, breaking all of his commitments and taking all of this scores and belongings. In 1671, while working at the León Cathedral, his debts were forgiven and he was given 300 ducats in exchange for giving his scores back to the church. Given his reluctance to turn his scores over to the churc

Juan Vásquez (composer)

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Juan Vásquez (or Vázquez, c. 1500 in Badajoz – c. 1560 in Seville) was a Spanish priest and composer of the Renaissance. He can be considered part of the School of Andalusia group of composers along with Francisco Guerrero, Cristóbal de Morales, Juan Navarro Hispalensis and others. Biography Even relative to the standards of early music composers, the life of Juan Vásquez is largely unknown, despite the best efforts of leading musicologists. As a result, all mentions of his age are educated guesses by professionals rather than hard facts. A chapel singer from boyhood, his engagement in 1511 as a “contralto” at the cathedral of Plasencia, Cáceres indicates that he was still a boy at that time. He does not appear in any other records for nearly 20 years. In late 1530 he turns up at Badajoz Cathedral, teaching plainchant to the choirboys. The year 1539 finds him singing in Palencia Cathedral, where he became known as a composer. The music employs both plainchant and polyphony, with his best and most extensive use of polyphony to be found in the Missa pro defunctis from that collection. The Office of the Dead is very highly regarded for its contemplative qualities, standing well alongs

Juan Vert

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Juan Bautista Vert Carbonell (1890, in Carcaixent – 1931, in Madrid) was a Valencian composer of Spanish zarzuelas. He worked in collaboration with Reveriano Soutullo. Works References External links *

Juanjo Mier Cáraves

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Juan José Mier Cáraves (Alles, 28 April 1947 – Santander, 7 August 1997) was a Spanish composer, professor, and pedagogue. He is known for his musical and pedagogical work in Cantabria, as well as for the premiere of various chamber and symphonic works in the region. He received several composition awards for his organ works. Life Born in Alles, Asturias, in 1947, Mier moved with his family to Santander in 1955. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical University of Rome and at the University of Barcelona. His musical training included studies in Santander with Remedios Bacigalupi and Alicia Alonso, and in Bilbao with Juan Cordero and Rafael Castro. including pieces for organ, string quartets, and symphonic works. His music, which was socially engaged and rooted in popular culture, fused tradition and avant-garde with a personal musical language. References Bibliography * *

Julián Bautista

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Julián Bautista (21 April 1901 – 8 July 1961) was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was a member of Generation of ‘27 and the Group of Eight, the latter of which also included composers Jesús Bal y Gay, Ernesto Halffter and his brother Rodolfo, Juan José Mantecón, Fernando Remacha, Rosa García Ascot, Salvador Bacarisse and Gustavo Pittaluga. He composed the soundtracks to 37 movies in addition to more than 30 other classical works. He worked actively as a conductor with such orchestras as the Madrid Symphony Orchestra and the Spanish National Orchestra. Bautista was the son of Julián Bautista Swartz and Ventura Cachaza Vázquez. He began studying solfège at the age of 7 and piano at the age of 11 with Pilar Fernández de la Mora. At the age of 14 he began taking courses in harmony, counterpoint, and fugue at the Madrid Royal Conservatory where he was a pupil of Conrado del Campo. In 1940 he emigrated to Argentina, where he lived in Buenos Aires. Works Selected filmography * An Evening of Love (1943) * Our Natacha (1944) * The Phantom Lady (1945) * Back in the Seventies (1945) * The Earring (1951) *Suburb (1951) * Don’t Ever Open That Door (1952) External links *Julián Bautista: we

Leonardo Balada

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Leonardo Balada Ibáñez (born September 22, 1933) is a Spanish-American classical composer, who is noted for his operas and orchestral works. Life Balada was born in Barcelona, Spain. After studying piano at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona, Balada emigrated to the United States in 1956 to study at the New York College of Music on scholarship. He left that institution for the Juilliard School in New York, from which he graduated in 1960. He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti, Alexandre Tansman and Aaron Copland, In 1981, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He taught at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starting in 1970, and retired in 2020. Works Opera *Hangman, Hangman!, chamber opera (1982) *Zapata, opera (1984) *Christopher Columbus, opera (1986) *Death of Columbus, opera (1996) *The Town of Greed, chamber opera (1997) (sequel to Hangman, Hangman!) *Faust-bal, opera (2007) *Resurrection of Columbus, opera (2013) Orchestral *Symphonies **Symphony No. 1 Sinfonia en Negro, a homage to Martin Luther King (1968) **Symphony No. 2 Cumbres, a short symphony for band (1972) **Symphony No. 3 Steel Symphony (1972) **

Leonora Milà Romeu

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Leonora Milà Romeu (Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1942) is a Catalan pianist and composer. Biography The pianist and composer Leonora Milà was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona) in 1942, into a family with close ties to the world of music. Her father, Josep Milà, was a cellist in the Orquestra Pau Casals and the Orquestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona. A disciple of pedagogue Maria Canals, Leonora Milà was dubbed a “child prodigy” in the wake of two concerts she performed in the Palau de la Música Catalana in 1949. Whilst just six years old, she interpreted a piece that she herself had composed, along with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s concerto KV488 for piano and orchestra, accompanied by the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona. She started her international career at the age of 12, when she performed piano works by Enric Granados and Manuel de Falla on a BBC London television programme. She returned a year later, in 1955, to interpret composer Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain in the Royal Albert Hall, performing alongside a London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rudolph Dunbar. Winner of the 1966 Maria Canals International Music Competition (Barcelona) and finali

Lluís Millet

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Lluís Millet i Pagès (18 April 1867 in El Masnou – 7 December 1941 in Barcelona) was a Spanish Catalan composer, musician and co-founder of Orfeó Català in 1891. A student of Felip Pedrell, from 1896 he taught choral music at Barcelona’s Escuela Municipal de Musica where he later succeeded Nicolau as director. He died in 1941 and is interred in the Montjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona. Education and training Lluís Millet’s family moved to Barcelona to escape the threats posed by the Third Carlist War. The family wanted Lluís to become a merchant, but he followed the musical career by enrolling at the Conservatory of the Liceu of Barcelona. There he trained under Miquel Font and Josep Rodoreda, and Carles G. Vidiella. Early career Lluís Millet was early attracted to choir songs, and aged just 17 he became conductor of the Chorus the “La Lira de Sant Cugat del Vallès.” He also had a job at the Cafè Inglés in Barcelona, first as pianist and later as a member of a trio with Josep Badia, the violinist, and Lluís Pamies, who played the harmonium. Selected works * Egloga for orchestra * Catalanesques for orchestra * Cant de la Senyera References

Lluís Vicenç Gargallo

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Lluís Vicenç Gargallo otherwise Luis Vicente Gargallo (circa 1636 — 19 February 1682) was a musician and composer from the Baroque period. Biography Gargallo was born most probably in the Valencian Community. He entered as a child in the choir of the Valencia Cathedral towards 1648-1649 and stayed there until 1651 or 1652. There he received his first musical training given by the mestres de capella Francesc Navarro (until 1650) and Dídac Pontac. On 7 June 1659, Gargallo succeeded the mestre de capella of the Huesca Cathedral, a position where Vargas i Babán had preceded him. He resigned to the place on 15 November 1667 to join two days later in the Barcelona Cathedral in the same position. As usual, he entered temporarily until the death of the holder, Marcià Albareda (21 August 1673), replacing him after that. Among his disciples in Barcelona, there were the future mestres de capella and composers and Isidre Serrada. Gargallo died on 19 February 1682 in Barcelona, and was replaced temporarily by Jaume Riera, until took on the position on 13 July 1682. Of his compositional production, extensive as it would be expected from a mestre de capella, a minimum of 74 different compositions

Lorenzo Palomo

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Lorenzo Palomo (10 March 1938 – 13 April 2024) was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was chief conductor of the Valencia Orchestra from 1973 to 1976 and conductor and pianist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1981 to 2004. Several of his compositions, often based on Andalusian traditions, were performed internationally and were recorded. Biography Soon after his birth in Ciudad Real in 1938, where his father was stationed during the Spanish Civil War, his mother returned with him to Pozoblanco where the family lived. Shortly afterwards, they moved to Córdoba where the composer spent his youth. Palomo studied piano and harmony at the Córdoba Conservatory and at the age of twenty he entered the Barcelona Conservatory, where he studied composition with Joaquín Zamacois and piano with Sofía Puche de Mendlewicz. He studied conducting further with Boris Goldovsky in New York City, with a scholarship from the Fundación Juan March. His ballet La leyenda del Monte Bangkay was premiered in Manila, Philippines, in 1980. His song cycle Canciones españolas (Spanish Songs) was first performed by Montserrat Caballé at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1987. His Nocturnos de Andalucía (Andalusia

Lucas Vidal

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Lucas Vidal (born 6 March 1984) is a Spanish composer, conductor, and record producer. Vidal became the youngest Berklee College of Music student ever to compose and record the score to a feature film with a full orchestra, and he is best known for composing the score for the 2013 film Fast & Furious 6. Life Lucas Vidal was born and grew up in Madrid. His father is also a musician, and his grandfather was one of the founders of the record company Hispavox. He began studying piano and flute at age 4. When he was 16 years old, he went to Berklee College of Music for a summer term to play sax and was introduced to the film scoring department. Vidal decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a film composer. He met his business partner, Steve Dzialowski, and decided to create a company, Music and Motion Productions, while attending Berklee. Vidal made history when he became the youngest Berklee College of Music student ever to compose and record the score to a feature film with a full orchestra. Hundreds of recording sessions and dozens of movie scores, commercial music jobs, video game soundtracks and ballet scores later, Vidal is getting his biggest-ever assignments. After studying

Luis de Briceño

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Luis de Briceño (also Briçeño, Brizeño; fl. 1610s–1630s) was a Spanish guitarist and music theorist who introduced the Spanish guitar style in France, where previously only the lute was considered a serious plucked instrument. Nothing is known about his youth or his activities in Spain. He married Anne Gaultier. In February 1627, two sons, Charles and Claude, were baptized in the church of Saint-Sulpice. Their godparents were Claude Lesclop, an instrument maker; Bertrand de Vignolles, a field marshal to Louis XIII; and Jeanne de Montluc, wife of the Marquis de Sourdis. He travelled in high courtly circles in both countries, and is first cited as an authority on the Spanish guitar in 1614. His Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a tañer la guitarra a lo español (1626, Very Easy Method to Learn to Play the Guitar in the Spanish Style) is the main source of knowledge of the Spanish style, since few books appeared during this period in Spain itself. His own transcriptions include villanos, villancicos, pasacalles, tonos frances, españoletas, romances, folías, seguidillas and a “Danza de la Hacha”. A selection was recorded by Le Poème Harmonique, directed by Vincent Dumestre, for Alpha

Luis de los Cobos

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Luis de los Cobos Almaraz (Valladolid, 20 April 1927 – Geneva, 16 November 2012) was a Spanish composer. In 1944, he was briefly jailed for taking part in protests against the Francoist government, and after he finished his studies in 1949 he couldn’t find a job since he lacked the certificate of adherence to the Spanish State, so he went to exile, settling in Geneva after studying orchestral conducting under Bernardo Molinari in Rome and Eugène Bigot in Paris. Like Xavier Montsalvatge and Manuel Castillo he has been defined as a missing link in the postwar Spanish music, as he was influenced by Shostakovichian modernism while the Spanish scene evolved from nationalism to the Darmstadt avantgarde through his contemporaries of the 1951 Generation. He composed four operas, two symphonies, four concertos and six string quartets. Compositions Opera * La gloria de Don Ramiro (1975) * Mariana Pineda (1982) * La Pasión de Gregorio (1983) * The Incarnation of Desire (1994) Ballet * Winnie the Pooh (1992) Orchestral Symphony orchestra * Symphony No. 1 ″Cursus Vitae″ (1956) * Agonía recurrente (1966) * Symphony No. 2 ″El pinar perdido″ (2012) String orchestra * Jungla 1967 (1967) Chamber orc

Luis de Milán

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Luis de Milán (also known as Lluís del Milà or Luys Milán) (c. 1500 – c. 1561) was a Spanish Renaissance composer, vihuelist, and writer on music. He was the first composer in history to publish music for the vihuela de mano, an instrument employed primarily in the Iberian peninsula and some of the Italian states during the 15th and 16th centuries, and he was also one of the first musicians to specify verbal tempo indications in his music. Life Luis de Milán probably lived all his life in Valencia, though details are sketchy at best. He seems to have been employed by the Valencian court of Germaine de Foix until around 1538. In 1535 he published his first book, a parlor game with music called El juego de mandar. The next year he issued what would be his most important book, El maestro. This was the first printed collection of vihuela music, and both books were composed during his ducal court residence. It is likely that Milán was a Valencian nobleman who entered minor religious orders before later becoming the rector of a parish church. He would have eventually been married sometime before 1555, and died in 1559. Milán’s final work titled El cortesano provides insight into court li

Luis de Narváez

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Luis de Narváez (fl. Approx: 1490 - 1550) was a Spanish composer and vihuelist. Highly regarded and infleuntial his works are still performed to this day including his very famous “Guárdame Las Vacas” which is popular with classical guitarists. Narváez is also known for Los seys libros del Delphín, a collection of polyphonic music for the vihuela which includes the earliest known variation sets and other works. Life The exact date or even year of Narváez’s birth is unknown. He was born in Granada and the earliest surviving references to him indicate that as early as 1526 he was a member of the household of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina, a well-known and very successful patron of the arts who was the Secretary of State and commentator for the kingdom of Castile under Charles V. Narváez lived in Valladolid with his patron until the latter’s death in 1547, although he was working for the Duke of Medina Sidonia between 1539 and 1540. It was during this period that the composer published Los seys libros del delphín (Valladolid, 1538), a large collection of music. By 1548 Narváez was employed as musician of the royal chapel, where he also taught music to choristers. His colleagues ther

Luis de Pablo

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Luis de Pablo Costales (28 January 1930 – 10 October 2021) was a Spanish composer belonging to the generation that Cristóbal Halffter named the Generación del 51. Mostly self-taught as a composer and influenced by Maurice Ohana and Max Deutsch, he co-founded ensembles for contemporary music, and organised concert series for it in Madrid. He published translations of notable texts about composers of the Second Viennese School, such as Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt’s biography of Arnold Schoenberg and the publications of Anton Webern. He wrote music in many genres, including film scores such as Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, and operas including La señorita Cristina. He taught composition not only in Spain, but also in the U.S. and Canada. Among his awards is the Premio Nacional de Música. Life Luis de Pablo was born in Bilbao. After losing his father in the Spanish Civil War, he went with his mother and siblings to live in Madrid from age six. Although he started to compose at the age of 12, his circumstances made it impossible to consider an artistic career, and so he studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid. For a short time after graduating in 1952, he was employed as

Luis Mariano de Larra

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Luis Mariano de Larra y Wetoret (1830, in Madrid – 1901, in Madrid) was a Spanish writer, son of journalist Mariano José de Larra. Noted as the librettist of numerous zarzuelas such as El Toro y el Tigre, Un embuste y una boda, Todo con raptos, El cuello de la camisa, con el Sr. Suricalday amongst others, his most famous work is undoubtedly El barberillo de Lavapiés (1874), set to music by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri. Larra worked for the Ministry of Development and contributed to various publications of the time such as the Gaceta de Madrid, from which he resigned to devote himself exclusively to literature. He also wrote many comedies, among which is his much successful La oración de la tarde, drama in three acts and verse whose protagonist Don Diego de Mendoza, dragging his righteous indignation for reasons of honor, implements the evangelical precept of forgiving every injury. It premiered at Teatro del Circo on 25 November 1858 with great acclaim. Works *En Palacio y en la calle *Las tres noblezas *Quien á cuchillo mata *A caza de cuervos! con el Sr. Larrea *Una nube de verano *El amor y el interés *La pluma y la espada *La paloma y los halcones *La planta exótica *El Rey del mu

Luisa Casagemas

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Lluïsa Casagemas i Coll (b. 13 Dec 1873, d. ? after 1930; one source says c. 1942) was a Catalan violinist, singer and composer. She was born in Barcelona and studied composition with Francesc de Paula Sánchez i Gavagnach and violin with Agustí Torelló. She began composing at an early age and made her debut as a composer in 1893 with a symphonic poem. Casagemas’ opera Schiava e regina won a prize at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1892; it has to be performed in 1893 at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; it would be the first opera by a woman performed there. However, an anarchist attack with a bomb interrupted the opera season and the theatre was closed for months. So, the opera was not performed; as a compensation for the author, several fragments were performed before the Spanish royal family in Madrid in 1894. After, it was forgotten and never performed nor recorded. Afterward Casagemas sang her own compositions at the salon of novelist Emilia Pardo Bazán, and he introduced her to musical and literary society. Works Casagemas composed over than 300 works, solo and chamber music and songs with piano. Selected works include: *Crepusculo for orchestra (1893) *Schiava e

Manuel Alejandro

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Manuel Álvarez-Beigbeder Pérez (born 21 February 1932), better known as Manuel Alejandro, is a Spanish composer of Latin love songs, which are better known as ballads. He has written, composed, and arranged songs for the likes of Luis Miguel, Plácido Domingo, Nino Bravo, Julio Iglesias, Raphael, Hernaldo Zúñiga, José José, José Luis Rodríguez, Emmanuel, Enrique Guzmán, Isabel Pantoja, Rocío Jurado, Rudy Marquez, and Jeanette, among many others. Biography Manuel Alejandro was born in 1932 in Jerez de la Frontera–Cádiz. He is the son of one of Spain’s most renowned contemporary symphonists, Germán Álvarez Beigbeder. It was his father, an accomplished musician, professor, and composer, who inspired Manuel Alejandro to pursue music and become a composer. Musical career Hits of the 60s He started writing songs for Spanish singer Raphael during the 1960s. Many of those songs are now considered classics. The list includes such hits as: * “Yo Soy Aquél” * “Primavera en Otoño” * “Desde Aquel Día” * “Cuando Tu No Estas” * “Cierro Mis Ojos” * “Hablemos Del Amor” * “Amor Mio” * “Digan Lo Que Digan” * “Estar Enamorado” * “Como Yo Te Amo” Hits of the 1970s and ’80s He continued writing a few son

Manuel Blasco de Nebra

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Manuel Orlandi Blasco de Nebra (2 May 1750 – 12 September 1784) was a Spanish organist and composer who lived in Seville. He was the son of José Blasco de Nebra (Lacarra), the organist of Seville Cathedral since 1735, and became his assistant organist in 1768, taking over in 1778. He was renowned for his excellent sight-reading and playing of the organ, harpsichord and fortepiano, of which some impression can be obtained from his surviving compositions. During his short life (he predeceased his father), he composed about 170 works, although only 30, all for keyboard instrument, are still in existence. Six sonatas were recovered and edited by musicologist Robert Parris from the first edition of the Sonatas, Op.1 , held at the Library of Congress in Washington. Another twelve sonatas and the six pastorellas were found at the Monastery of Montserrat (Catalonia), which have since been published by Egtved in an edition by the Danish musicologist Bengt Johnsson. Later still, María Inmaculada Cárdenas Serván discovered a further six sonatas at the Encarnación Monastery of Osuna (in the province of Seville), which she published with the support of the Spanish Musicology Society. Two other

Manuel de Falla

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Biography#

Falla was born Manuel María de los Dolores Falla y Matheu in Cádiz. He was the son of José María Falla, a Valencian, and María Jesús Matheu, from Catalonia. In 1889 he continued his piano lessons with Alejandro Odero and learned the techniques of harmony and counterpoint from Enrique Broca. At age 15 he became interested in literature and journalism and founded the literary magazines El Burlón and El Cascabel.

Manuel Fernández Caballero

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Manuel Fernández Caballero (Murcia, 14 March 1835 – Madrid, 26 February 1906) was a Spanish composer, notably of zarzuelas. His works were seminal works in the young Género chico form of zarzuela. The success of Los bandos de villafrita (1884) consolidated his career. Its sequel was Las grandes figuras (1885). The sainete El dúo de La Africana and its celebrated jota No cantes más La Africana remain as classic examples of a zarzuela duet. Works He also composed religious works and salon songs. He was one of the most successful Spanish composers of the nineteenth century, and enjoyed many successful premieres, from his earlier pieces Entre el alcalde y el rey, Los bandos de Villa-Frita and El lucero del alba, composed for the Cádiz singer Antonia Garcia de Videgain, to the most successful of all his works, Gigantes y cabezudos (1898). Zarzuelas * Entre el alcalde y el rey (1875). * La Marsellesa (1876) * :es:Los sobrinos del Capitán Grant (1877) * :es:El lucero del alba (1879) * Currilla (1883). * Chateau Margaux (1887) * :es:El dúo de La africana (1893) * :es:El cabo primero (1895) * :es:La viejecita (1897) * Gigantes y Cabezudos (1898) References External links * Biografías y Vida

Manuel José de Quirós

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Manuel José de Quirós (died 1765) was an 18th-century Guatemalan composer. Life Born in Santiago de Guatemala, present day Antigua Guatemala, towards the end of the 17th century, Quirós had a religious education while pursuing his musical apprenticeship and reaching the level of a journeyman. Having taken Franciscan orders, he was put in charge of the Franciscan press, where he served until 1738, when he was appointed chapel master of the cathedral choir and orchestra. He served in this capacity for 27 years, until his death in 1765. As chapel master, he was in charge of the education of choir boys and apprentices, besides conducting the cathedral liturgical music. Among his pupils, the most outstanding was Rafael Antonio Castellanos. Quirós is the first musician in the New World to receive a critical review. On the occasion of the ceremonies that elevated the Bishopric of Guatemala to the rank of an Archbishopric, Quirós provided liturgical music during the nine days of celebration in November, 1745. Writer Antonio de Paz y Salgado, a high official in the Spanish colonial government, published his enthusiastic review of these musical performances two years later in Mexico City. A

Manuel Palau

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Manuel Palau Boix (4 January 1893 – 18 February 1967) was a Spanish composer and teacher in Valencia Conservatory. He wrote a large number of symphonic, band (wind orchestra), choral and chamber works. He was one of the most popular and important composers of his time. He received the Spanish National Music Award (Premio Nacional de Música) twice, first in 1927 and again in 1945. His music is known within the Spanish classical music for being a representative of what it has been called “Mediterranean” style, like other Spanish musicians such as Vicente Asencio or Oscar Esplá. The cities of Valencia, Alfara del Patriarca, Llíria, Alaquàs and Xirivella named streets after him. There is a Spanish choir called Manuel Palau in his honor. Biography Palau lived some of the sweetest and most bitter moments of art in Spain. He had the good fortune to be a contemporary of a large number of artists (painters, poets, musicians) and scientists who had achieved international significance. However, he also had the misfortune of living through the horrendous events of the military insurrection against the legitimate government of the country and suffered the post-war horrors that severely impeded

Manuel Penella

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Manuel Penella Moreno (31 July 1880 in Valencia – 14 January 1939 in Cuernavaca) was a Spanish composer. His father was the composer Manuel Penella Raga. His daughter Magdalena Penella Silva married the politician Ramón Ruiz Alonso; through her, he was the grandfather of actresses Emma Penella, Elisa Montés and Terele Pávez. Although his most popular work at home and abroad is the oft-revived opera española El gato montés (a special favourite of Plácido Domingo, who revived it several times and recorded it for Deutsche Grammophon), several of his other works still enjoy popularity in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world, notably the chamber opera Don Gil de Alcalá (scored in Mexican style for strings and harp), some of his revues and the ambitious, late zarzuela La malquerida (1935), based on the masterpiece by Jacinto Benavente. Works (not exhaustive) Operas * 1893 El queso de bola, sainete lírico, Valencia * 1906 Las niñas alegres, entremés lírico, Barcelona * 1907 Amor ciego, zarzuela * 1907 El dinero, sainete lírico, Barcelona * 1907 El día de reyes “apropósito en un acto” * 1908 El padre cura, entremés lírico, Valencia * 1908 La perra chica, parody of La Patria chica by Rupert

Manuel Quiroga (violinist)

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Manuel Quiroga Losada (15 April 189219 April 1961) was a Spanish violinist and composer. He was described by music critics as “the finest successor of Pablo de Sarasate”, and he is sometimes referred to as “Sarasate’s spiritual heir”. Enrique Granados, Eugène Ysaÿe (whose sixth Solo Sonata is dedicated to Quiroga) and other composers dedicated compositions to him. Violinists Ysaÿe, Fritz Kreisler, George Enescu, Mischa Elman and Jascha Heifetz, as well as composers such as Igor Stravinsky and Jean Sibelius, held Quiroga’s artistry in great regard. Biography Early years Manuel Quiroga Losada was born in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain in 1892. His first study of the violin was with a local amateur named Juan Sayago. He then moved on to a more qualified teacher, Benito Medal. He gave his first public concert in 1900, at the age of 8. and in 1904 at the Circulo Mercantil in Santiago de Compostela. and Jules Boucherit; he also had some lessons with Jacques Thibaud in 1911. He also associated with George Enescu and Eugène Ysaÿe, and learned some of Kreisler’s compositions, while enjoying the friendship of Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Turina, Pablo Casals, Darius Milhaud, the cellist Juan Ruiz Ca

Manuel Valls (composer)

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Manuel Valls i Gorina (; 21 July 1920 – 1984) was a Catalan composer, pianist, music critic, and music educator. Valls was born in Badalona. He was a first cousin of painter Xavier Valls, himself the father of former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. He studied at the University of Barcelona and the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu. At the Liceu he was mentored by Aita Donostia with whom he studied music theory, music composition, and orchestration. He became a successful composer writing symphonic works, chamber music, choral music, operas, art songs, and songs for solo piano. For many years he taught composition at the University of Barcelona and wrote music reviews for El País. He died in Barcelona. Personal papers of Manuel Valls i Gorina are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya. Manuel Valls is the composer of the music of “El Cant del Barça”, the official anthem of FC Barcelona. Selected works *Estudio de danza en 5/8 *Preludio para piano *Concierto de guitarra y orquesta *Tocata per a piano *Seis canciones del Alto Duero para voz y piano * Fantasías en forma de concierto para flauta solista y cuerda *La Mare de Déu (SATB chorus) *Poemes de Patrícia: Renaixença

Marcial del Adalid y Gurréa

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Marcial del Adalid y Gurréa (24 August 1826 – 16 October 1881) was a Spanish composer. He studied music in London between 1840 and 1844 with Ignaz Moscheles and it is possible that he also studied with Chopin in Paris. Both men influenced the style and form of his musical compositions. After finishing his studies, Adalid y Gurréa returned to Spain where he lived in A Coruña and later Madrid. Highly influenced by lieder, his most important compositions were vocal art songs and songs for the piano. A particularly fine example of his work is his 1877 composition Cantares nuevos y viejos de Galicia where he successfully blended the folklore of Galicia with the technique and spirit of Romantic piano music. He also composed one opera Inese e Bianca, which was never staged. In addition to composing, Adalid y Gurréa spent much of his time teaching music courses and organizing music competitions. He was married to writer Fanny Garrido and the father of painter María del Adalid. References Sources *López-Calo, José. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie (1992). and

María Dolores Malumbres

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María Dolores Malumbres Carranza (11 April 1931 – 5 January 2019) was a Spanish pianist, music educator and composer. Life María Dolores Malumbres was born in Alfaro, La Rioja. She first studied music with her violinist father Jose Luis Malumbres and in Cordoba in 1948. She later studied with Fernando Remacha at the Madrid Royal Conservatory of Music, and at the Zaragoza Conservatory of Music. After completing her studies, Malumbres began to work as a choir director and to teach music privately. From 1984–87 she taught harmony and analysis at the Music Conservatory of Logroño. She began to compose in 1953, and the next year premiered her String Quartet. She also taught at Pablo Sarasate Conservatory of Music in Pamplona. Malumbres married and raised a family, then again studied music for 1980-87 with Carmelo Bernaola, Luis de Pablo, Luigi Nono, Pedro Espinosa, Agustín González and Albert Sarda Acilu. Malumbres is a member of the Association of Women in Music, and her works have been performed internationally. Her biography was published in 2009: Ruiz, Blanco, C., The music keys Dolores Malumbres M. Works Selected works include: *Divertimento in D, for Violoncello solo (2007) *Diver

María Escribano

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María Escribano (24 January 1954 – 22 December 2002) was a Spanish composer and music teacher. Biography María Escribano was born in Madrid, Spain. She studied piano and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid with Antón García Abril and Roman Alis. She continued her studies of contemporary music with composers Carmelo Bernaola, Cristobal Halffter and Tomas Marco, analysis with Rodolfo Halffter at the Festival de Granada, Mauricio Kagel and Ligeti Giorgy at Darmstadt and Cologne, Luis de Pablo in Madrid, Arturo Tamayo in Freiburg, and orchestration and composition with Leonardo Balada at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA. After completing her studies, she lived in Avila and worked as a composer and music educator. In 1978 she received a scholarship to create the Foundation Juan March, and became composer-in-residence for three years at the Roy Hart Theatre Company in France, where she also worked as pianist and actress. She collaborated with pianist, musicologist, and singer Ana Vega-Toscano for the Spell of Robin Hood and directed Creation Center AGAD in Arenas de San Pedro, Ávila, with actor and director Manuel Azquinezer. Escribano was active as a mu

María Luisa Ozaita

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María Luisa Ozaita Marqués (20 May 1939, in Barakaldo, Spain – 5 April 2017, in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish pianist, harpsichordist, musicologist, conductor and composer. Biography María Luisa Ozaita Marques was born in Barakaldo, Vizcaya, in Spain. She studied with Fernando Remacha, and continued her studies in Copenhagen with Leif Thybo and K.J. Isaksen through a MFA exchange scholarship. She also studied harpsichord in France with Kenneth Gilbert and at Darmstadt in Germany. Ozaita performed internationally in Europe, North America and Eastern Europe, and her compositions have also been performed internationally. She lectured on music history, and published professional articles in magazines including Confutatis and OpusMusica and in the book Women in Music by Patricia Adkins Chiti. Ozaita also collaborated on the Spanish edition of Women in Music. She was a member of the La Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del País and was the founding president of the Spanish Association of Women in Music. Works Ozaita composed mainly chamber and symphonic works, but was also known for guitar compositions. Selected works include: *Pelleas et Mélisande, opera with text by Pablo Neruda *Prelu

Marià Obiols

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Marià Obiols (26 November 1809 – 10 December 1888), also known as Mariano Obiols, was a Catalan composer, conductor, and professor of music. He served as the music director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona from its founding in 1847 until his death. A protégé of Saverio Mercadante, he composed three operas, the cantata Il regio imeneo which inaugurated the Liceu theatre, art songs, chamber music, and several pieces of sacred music. His vocal music was largely Italianate in style, reflecting his years of study in Italy as well as the influence of Mercadante. As a professor at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu, Obiols influenced the development numerous singers, composers, and conductors and wrote books on piano and solfège methods which became standard texts at the conservatory. Notes References External links *Score of Divertimento for Flute, Clarinet and Piano by Obiols at the International Music Score Library Project

Maria Rodrigo

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María Rodrigo (20 March 1888 – 8 December 1967) was a Spanish pianist and composer. She was the daughter of Pantaléon Rodrigo, and studied music at the Madrid Conservatorium under José Tragó for piano, Valentín Arín for harmony and Emilio Serrano for composition. Maria was the first woman to have her opera performed in Spain. Her sister Mercedes Rodrigo was equally intelligent, being the first woman from Spain to obtain a degree in psychology from the Rousseau Institute in Geneva. The two left Spain for Switzerland during the Spanish Civil War, moved in 1939 to Bogotá, Colombia, at the invitation of rector Agustín Nieto Caballero, and in 1950 to Puerto Rico at the invitation of José María García Madrid. With Pablo Casals, Rodrigo founded the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. She died in Puerto Rico in 1967. Maria was one of the few composers that addressed the composition of zarzuelas, a genre of Spanish music. Early life Background and early life The environment that Maria Rodrigo had growing up was very cultured, and her childhood consisted of being surrounded by high intellects. She acquired her first musical abilities from her father and then piano with Jose Trago and composit

Maria Rosa Ribas Monné

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Maria Rosa Ribas Monné (25 July 1944 in Barcelona, 20 February 2024) is a Catalan composer and pianist. She teaches at the Catalonia College of Music and at the Music School Victòria dels Àngels of Sant Cugat del Vallès in Catalonia. She studied music at the Conservatory of Barcelona, where she obtained the titles of piano, guitar, solfeo and composition. She was awarded an Honourable Mention for Fugue and the honour prizes of Piano, Chamber Music, Harmony and Composition. She was a disciple of the masters Sofia Puche, Josep Poch, Xavier Montsalvatge and Antoni Ros Marbà, among others. From Carles Guinovart she received knowledge of contemporary music, and with Paul Schilhawsky she specifically worked on the accompaniment of the lied. She also has expanded her training with numerous courses and seminars by renowned musicians such as Rosalyn Tureck, Dimitri Baskiroff, Frederic Gevers, Paul Badura Skoda or Witold Lutoslawsky. In 1980, she won the composition award Francesc Basil de Figueres, and in 1998 the 1st prize in the Caterina Albert composition award, in the name of L’Associació Catalana de la Dona, and in 2009 she won the 1st prize in the Concurs de Dones Compositores de Sant

María Teresa Oller

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María Teresa Oller (1920 – 2 September 2018) was a Spanish composer and folklorist of the Valencian Community. Since the 1950s, she carried out extensive fieldwork to collect traditional Valencian music, highlight it, and make it known in numerous publications. Oller was a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia. Biography María Teresa Oller Benlloch was born in Valencia in 1920. She studied at the and obtained the “Extraordinary Prize” in the disciplines of piano and composition. Manuel Palau was her teacher in composition, choir and orchestra conducting, musicology, and music pedagogy, and she became a favorite disciple. She followed Palau’s advice and furthered her music studies with Professor Ernet Jarnack, with the Walker Wagenheim Orchestra and with the choral specialist, Rafael Benedito. In 1954, she obtained a grant from the to perfect her composition studies. Highlights of her early works include the research carried out in the Vall d’Albaida region where Oller visited all the towns while collecting songs such as the fandango of El Palomar or the dances of Bèlgida. She also did extensive work in the Ribera Alta comarca documenting the music of

Maria Teresa Pelegrí i Marimón

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Maria Teresa Pelegrí i Marimón (4 March 1907– 18 March 1996 ) was a Spanish composer. She was born in Barcelona and studied piano as a child. When she married, she gave up her musical activities, but after twenty years renewed her interest. She studied piano with Joan Gibert and Carles Pellicer, counterpoint and fugue with Josep Poch and composition with Josep Soler. She also took classes on twentieth-century music with Carles Guinovart. Personal papers (scores) of Maria Teresa Pelegrí are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya. Works Selected works include: *Praeludium und Tiento for organ (1975) *Quatre chansons sentimentales: “Le coucher du soleil romantique”, text Charles Baudelaire; “L’heure exquise”, text of Paul Verlaine; “Autome” sic for “Automne” , text by Guillaume Apollinaire; “Saisir”, text by Jules Supervielle *Per a Viola i Piano *Duetto for Cello and Piano *First String Quartet (1974) *Second String Quartet (1984) *Third String Quartet *Tocatta for nine *Passacaglia for Wind, bass, percussion *Variations for orchestra *Tragic poem for orchestra, inspired by La casa de Bernarda Alba of Federico García Lorca *Sinfonietta for wood and string orchestra *Concerto for Vi

María Teresa Prieto

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María Teresa Prieto (18961982) was a Spanish composer and pianist who lived and worked in Mexico. Prieto’s music was often performed in prestigious venues such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes but was largely forgotten after her death. She studied with pianist and composer Saturnino del Fresno in Asturias. In 1931, she moved to Madrid where she studied with Benito de la Parra at the Conservatory of Madrid. During this time, she was introduced to modal music which greatly influenced her later works. Exile In 1935, Prieto’s mother died, leaving her alone in Spain. Prieto went to stay with her brother Carlos in Mexico in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. During her first years in Mexico, Prieto studied with composer Manuel Ponce. She also studied with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1946 and 1947. She returned to Spain briefly in 1958 to receive the Samuel Ross prize for Modal Quartet, but never returned to live there. Death In 1982, Prieto’s health deteriorated. She died on January 24th, 1982, in Mexico City. Compositional style During her early music education, Prieto was introduced to the works of J. S. Bach and baroque counterpoint. While studying with Ro

Mariano Rodríguez de Ledesma

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Mariano Rodríguez de Ledesma (Zaragoza, 14 December 1779 - Madrid, 28 March 1847) was a Spanish composer. His musical training commenced when, at the age of 8 he entered the Zaragoza Cathedral choir. He was a disciple of Francisco Javier García, “el Españoleto”, and was influenced by Italian music. Works Songs Spanish Canción fúnebre, (s.a.,1819?), RL 30 Los cantos del trovador, (s.a., 1809?), RL 31 Delio a la ausencia de su amada Nise (s.a., 1810?), RL 32 O sí o no (s.a., 1810?), RL 33 El pescador (s.a., 1810?), RL 34 El pescador (s.a., 1814?), RL 35 La persuasión, s.a., 1831?), RL 36 El propósito inútil (s.a., 1810?), RL 37 Las señas de amor, (s.a.), RL 38 El sueño de mi amor (s.a., 1810?), RL 39 Ya tengo dueño (s.a., 1810?), RL 40 Italian Amo te solo, te solo amai, (s.a., 1825?), RL 41 Aria e vocalizzio, (s.a., 1827?), RL 42 Il capriccio (s.a., 1815?), RL 43 Ch’io mai vi possa, (s.a., 1825?), RL 44 Clori mia bella Clori, (s.a., 1815?), RL 45 Da quel sembiante appresi, (s.a., 1825?), RL 46 Dov’e il mio bene, (s.a.,1825?), RL 47 Un fanciullin tiranno, (s.a., 1815?), RL 48 La felicità (Der Glückliche), (s.a., 1815?), RL 49 In te spero o sposo amato, (s.a., 1825?), RL 50 La nebbia,

Marti Montserrat Guillemat

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Martí Montserrat Guillemat (sometimes erroneously cited as Guillamet, b: El Morell, Tarragona, July 4, 1906 – d: Barcelona, January 12, 1990), also known as Serramont, was a Catalan musician. Composer, conductor, pianist, accordionist and organist. The Serramont Orchestra was founded in 1932, with slight variations from Musette Serramont Orchestra or Serramont and José de Morato Orchestra, was active more than three decades. He performed throughout Spain and in several countries: Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Belgium, Switzerland and France. He accompanied popular singers of the era as Mario Visconti. Throughout his career, he performed in nightclubs as the Rigat and El Oro del Rin. His orchestra was the first to perform on Spanish TV at their Catalan studio in Miramar (Barcelona). At a very young age he learned to play the piano by ear and at the age of 9 he used to play at his father’s café in El Morell. Years later, he also in other surrounding villages until the family moved to Barcelona and Martin studied in the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu. His repertoire dominated the dance music. His first composition, the schottish Ni Pintao dates from 1925. In 1927 he worked as

Mateo Flecha

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Mateo Flecha (Catalan: Mateu Fletxa; 1481–1553) was a Spanish composer born in Kingdom of Aragon, in the region of Prades. He is sometimes known as “El Viejo” (the elder) to distinguish him from his nephew, Mateo Flecha “El Joven” (the younger), also a composer of madrigals. “El Viejo” is best known for his ensaladas, published in Prague in 1581 by the same nephew. Life and career Mateo Flecha directed the music at the cathedral of Lleida (September 1523 – October 1525). From there he moved to Guadalajara, in the service for six years of the Duke, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. From there he went to Valencia where he assumed direction of the chapel choir of the Duke of Calabria. While thus employed, three of his works were included in songbooks associated with that chapel, including the Cancionero de Uppsala. In 1537 Flecha moved to Sigüenza where he served as maestro di cappella for two years. From 1544 to 1548 he lived in the castle at Arévalo as teacher of the Infantas Maria and Joanna, daughters of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-1558). Toward the end of his life Mateo Flecha became a monk of the Cistercian Order, living in the Monastery at Poblet, where he died in 1553. Flecha'

Mateo Flecha el Joven

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Mateo Flecha el Joven, in Catalan Mateu Fletxa el Jove (Prades. Baix Camp, c. 1530 – Sant Pere de la Portella, Berguedà, 20 February 1604) was a Catalan composer, and nephew of Mateo Flecha the Elder. He took up the Carmelite habit in Valencia. Much appreciated by Pope Sixtus V, he was an outstanding musician and prefect of the musicians of Charles V. After residing in Italy for an uncertain period, in 1564 he was chaplain to Maria-Theresa, wife of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and later he was a singer of the imperial chapel. When Maximilian died, Emperor Rudolf II names him Abbot of Tihany (Plattensee, Hungary). In the years 1570, 1581 and 1586, he travellend along Spain to recruit singers for the imperial chapel. His main works were published in Venice and in Prague, a city he had visited several times. In Venice he published Il 1.° libro de madrigali a 4 et 5 (1568, “The First Book of Madrigals at 4/5 voices”), a collection of 31 madrigals. In Prague he printed, in 1581, three polyphonic music books: Libro de música de punto, in four volumes but lost, Divinarum completarum psalmi, incomplete, and Las ensaladas, dedicated to Giovanni Borgia. This latest collection contains

Matilde Salvador i Segarra

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Matilde Salvador Segarra (23 March 1918 – 5 October 2007) was a Spanish composer and painter. Life Salvador was born and raised in Castellón de la Plana, Valencian Community. She was married to the composer Vicente Asencio (1908–1979). She was a leading figure in promoting the culture and music of the Valencian Community. One of her most famous compositions was Homenatge a Mistral for solo guitar. Matilde Salvador died of a stroke on 5 October 2007 in her native Valencia, aged 89. Works Piano * 1935 Campanas * 1937 Danza de la luna. (de Romance de la luna) (Fuera de catálogo) * 1937 Danza del niño mirando a la luna. (de Romance de la luna) (Fuera de catálogo) * 1946 Planyívola (Fuera de catálogo) * 1954 Judas (Fuera de catálogo) Vocal * 1935 Canción de atardecer, para voz y piano. (de Set cançons) (Fuera de catálogo) * 1935 Cuentan que la rosa, para voz y piano. (de Set cançons) (Fuera de catálogo) * 1935 Nana, para voz y piano. (de Vuit cançons) (Fuera de catálogo) * 1936 El amor y la llama para voz y piano. (de Set cançons) (Fuera de catálogo) * 1937 Tres cançons valencianes, para voz y piano, (Existe en versión orquestral realizada por Vicente Asencio) ** Cançó alegre ** Cançó d

Mauricio Sotelo

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Mauricio Sotelo (born 2 October 1961 in Madrid) is a Spanish composer and conductor. Sotelo began his musical studies as a self-taught player of the guitar, and later at the Real Conservatorio de Música de Madrid. In 1979 he moved to Vienna to study at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Four years later, after finishing his course with Dieter Kaufmann, among others, he was admitted in the Chair of Composition commanded by Francis Burt – Sotelo dedicated to him the piece De Vinculis: Ge-Burt. A Francis Burt (2001) for violin – and, decisively for him, in Roman Haubenstock-Ramati’s seminars, to conclude this academic period in 1987, being awarded the Prize of Honour for graduate studies. During his time in Wien (1979–1992) Sotelo works, created (…et l’avare silence (1988), among others) and participates, together with Beat Furrer, in the creation of the Societé de l’Art acoustique, later known as Klangforum Wien. This group has to be considered a sort of “fetish” ensemble to Sotelo for two reasons: first, the personal relationship with Furrer and the musicians; second, the close and continuous work with them to create many pieces, from the Trio Basso – a R.H.R. (1988

Miguel Álvarez-Fernández

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Miguel Álvarez-Fernández (born 28 November 1979 in Madrid, Spain) is a sound artist, composer, filmmaker, theorist and curator working between Madrid and Berlin, where he has taught at the Electronic Music Studio of Technische Universität Berlin. He also lectures regularly at the Department of Art History and Musicology of the University of Oviedo (Spain), and at the European University of Madrid as a specialist in Sound Art and Electroacoustic music. His artistic and theoretical work addresses problematic concepts like the relationships between sexuality and music (both understood as socio-cultural constructions, rather than ’natural categories’), or the connections between interactive processes and the illusion of control. Álvarez-Fernández has explored these issues in his sound installations and musical compositions, both alone and as a member of the art group DissoNoiSex. Career The works of Álvarez-Fernández have been presented in several venues in Europe and America, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the National Auditorium of Music and the Residencia de Estudiantes (where Álvarez-Fernández was composer-in-residence from 2002 to 2005) in Madrid, Technis

Miguel Ángel Coria

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Miguel Ángel Coria Varela (24 October 1937 – 24 February 2016) was a Spanish composer of classical music. His early work showed affinities to the music of Anton Webern, but he became increasingly influenced by Impressionism. From 1973 he entered his post-modern period where his compositions were marked by “attempts to evoke the spirit of the music of the past, but without literal allusions”. In addition to his instrumental music, he also composed an opera, Belisa, which premiered at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in 1992. Coria served as the Administrative Director of the RTVE Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the 1980s and was a co-founder of ALEA, Spain’s first laboratory for electronic music. Life and career Miguel Ángel Coria was born in Madrid in 1937 and began his musical studies in 1952. His early mentors were Antonio Iges, Ángel Arias, Pedro Lerma and most importantly Gerardo Gombau with whom he studied composition at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. Coria won the Conservatory’s Fugue Prize in 1961. He also showed an early interest in electroacoustic music and in 1964 joined Luis de Pablo and Carmelo Alonso Bernaola in founding ALEA, Spain’s first laboratory for electronic music. A

Miguel de Fuenllana

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Miguel de Fuenllana (c.1500–1579) was a Spanish vihuelist and composer of the Renaissance. Biography Little is known of his life. It is assumed from his name that his roots lie in the municipality of Fuenllana, in the province of Ciudad Real, although he was born in Navalcarnero, Madrid. Blind from birth, he composed a Libro de música para vihuela intitulado Orphenica Lyra (Seville, 1554), dedicated to Philip II of Spain. At the arrival of Isabel de Valois, third wife of Philip II, she brought with her a group of French instrumental musicians who wished to stay in the Spanish court; Fuenllana alternated with this group and his musical works were performed together with those of foreign artists. At the death of the queen in 1568, he continued serving in the Spanish court. He later served Don Sebastian of Portugal in Lisbon starting in 1574. Works Orphénica Lyra comprises 182 pieces in six volumes. In the first three, the pieces are ordered ascending by the number of voices, passing through 2 and 3 in the first to 5 and 6 in the motets of the third volume. The book includes 51 fantasias newly composed by Fuenllanas alongside works of 17 other composers. His style is polyphonic with a

Miguel de Irízar

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Miguel de Irízar y Domenzain (1635–1684) was a Spanish Baroque composer. Irízar was born in Artajona and trained as a choirboy in León and Toledo. In August 1657 he became maestro de capilla in Vitoria, then in August 1671 appointed to Segovia Cathedral where he remained for his remaining thirteen years. He died at Segovia. The correspondence of Irízar preserved in the cathedral of Segovia archives contains a total of 362 letters received during the period 1663 to 1684. There are numerous requests to Irízar to compose music for the chapels of other cathedrals, or to exchange for works by composers such as Cristóbal Galán and Carlos Patiño. Some of these compositions were part of the repertoire taken to the New World. The correspondence also includes extensive detail on performance practice. The letters indicate in particular the wide and rapid circulation of villancicos between different cathedrals. Works * Masses * Motets * Lamentations * Villancicos * Tonos a la Navidad. Discography * Miguel de Irízar. Mass for 6 voices. 10 Christmas pieces. Ecos y afectos. Capilla Jeronimo de Carrion, dir. Alicia Lazaro. Verso VRS2024, Spain 2004. References

Miguel Marqués (composer)

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Pedro Miguel Juan Buenaventura Bernadino Marqués y García (20 May 1843 – 26 February 1918) was a Spanish composer and violinist. Life He was born in Palma, Majorca, the son of a chocolate maker. By the age of four he was already showing unusual musical talent, and by eleven he was playing violin for a Palma opera company, for which he wrote a Fantasía para violin which enjoyed a notable triumph. Between 1859 and 1863 family finance enabled him to study in Paris, after 1861 as a violinist at the Paris Conservatoire with Massard. In 1863 he was admitted to the orchestra of the Théâtre Lyrique, and began studying composition, and instrumentation with Hector Berlioz. He returned to Majorca when called up to his military service, but in 1866 he resumed his studies at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, studying Violin with Monasterio and Composition with Emilio Arrieta whilst playing in the orchestra of the Teatro de la Zarzuela. After 1878 he was Inspector of the National Music Schools. He also taught singing at the Foundling Girls’ School in Madrid, and published a handbook for violin teachers. In 1894 he retired to his home city of Palma. He published some philosophical books like Dios y

Miguel Roig-Francolí

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Miguel Ángel Roig-Francolí (born 1953) is a Spanish/American composer, music theorist, and pedagogue. His 1980 Cinco piezas para orquesta (Five Pieces for Orchestra), commissioned by Radio Nacional de España and written in a postmodern, neotonal style, won first prize in the National Composition Competition of the Spanish Jeunesses Musicales in 1981 and second prize at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in 1982, and continues to be widely performed in Spain. His later compositions often have spiritual themes and are based on sacred texts and the melodies of Gregorian chant. In 2016 he won the American Prize in Composition (Band/Wind Ensemble Division) for Perseus, for symphonic band. An expert on Renaissance composers Tomás de Santa María, Antonio de Cabezón, and Tomás Luis de Victoria, he has published numerous scholarly articles and monographs and two textbooks. Roig-Francolí is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music. Life and career Miguel A. Roig-Francolí was born in Ibiza in 1953. He studied composition privately in Madrid with Miguel Ángel Coria from 1976 to 1981 as well as

Miquel Roger i Casamada

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Miquel Roger Casamada (Barcelona, Spain, 16 July 1954 - Vilagrassa, 24 March 2017) was a Spanish Catalan composer and music producer, who began composing in 1977. He founded the Anacrusi record label and produced several records with soloists, chamber ensembles and orchestras, including the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia (Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya). Biography He was born in Barcelona in 1954, and began his studies at the Municipal Conservatoire of Barcelona (Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música de Barcelona), and subsequently studied with Josep Soler. In 1985 he graduated with a degree in Arts and Philosophy at the University of Barcelona. His composing career began in 1977 with the performance of his first piece for piano Set de set. His compositions were published by Musikverlag Zimmermann, Boileau and La Ma de Guido. Miquel Roger received commissions from the Asociación Música XXI (1979), the Festival Internacional de Música de Barcelona (1981), the Ajuntament de Badalona (1989), the Associació Catalana de Compositors (1991), and the Centro para la Difusión de la Música Contemporánea (1993). The recordings of

Moisès Bertran

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Moisès Bertran i Ventejo, in Spanish Moisés Bertrán (born Mataró, 1967) is a Catalan composer. He studied his Masters at the Hartt School of Music. Selected works : Bertran’s scores are largely published by Clivis Publicacions, Editorial de Música Boileau, Tritó Distribucions and La Mà de Guido ;Stage * El último día de Francisco Pizarro, Opera (2006–2009) ;Orchestral * Introspecció for string orchestra (1990) * Rondó (1992) * Catalanesca (1994) * Hartford, Fantasia for string orchestra (1999) * Petita Simfonia for string orchestra (1998) * Tres Momentos en Antioquia (2002) * Variaciones Sinfónicas sobre un tema de Henry Eccles (Symphonic Variations on a Theme of Henry Eccles) (2005) ;Concertante * Concerto for piano and orchestra (2000) * Esguards Silents for guitar and string orchestra (2003) * Concertino for piano and string orchestra (2006) * A Double Bass Fantasy, Fantasia for double bass and wind orchestra (2010) * Concerto for violin and orchestra (2012–2013) ;Chamber music * Absència for violin and piano (1990) * Piano Trio (1995) * Sonatine pour Mykeko for flute and piano (1997) * Quartet Ciutat Vella for flute, violin, viola and cello (1998) * Trio for oboe, bassoon and p

Narcisa Freixas

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Narcisa Freixas i Cruells (13 December 1859 – 20 December 1926) was a Catalan sculptor, painter and composer. She was born in Sabadell, Barcelona, the daughter of Pere Freixas Sabater, and first studied painting and sculpture with Modest Urgell i de Torcuato Tasso. However, she developed an interest in music and began the study of piano with Juan Bautista Pujol. She married Miquel Petit, a doctor who died soon afterward, and also lost her daughter at a young age. After 1900 Freixas published collections of Catalan songs and nursery rhymes, and helped foster musical education for school children in Barcelona. She died in Barcelona in 1926. Works Freixas composed for voice and instruments and was known for children’s songs. Selected compositions include: *La font del romaní for voice and piano *L’ametller (‘A mig aire de la serra veig un ametller florit’), for voice and piano *La barca (‘La doncella baixa al riu al trenc de l’alba’), for voice and piano *La son soneta, for voice and piano *Primaveral (‘On va el Sol de març revestit de festa?’), for voice and piano *L’ombra de Natzaret (‘Sentadeta va filant la Natsarena Maria’), for voice and piano *Dolorosa (‘Rient les penes fugen de

Nélida Béjar

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Nélida Béjar (born 1979 in Munich) is a Spanish composer based in Germany. She studied Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and Composition with Wilfried Hiller at Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich. In 2012 she received a PhD in Composition at Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied with Donnacha Dennehy. In 2009, she founded the undercoverfiction ensemble for contemporary music and music theater in Munich, along with theater director Björn Potulski. In this team, she has created opera productions in the spirit of community theatre, working with companies that are linked to the theme of the respective project: “Schwerer als Luft” (2010) in cooperation with Munich Airport, where the singers on stage were aircraft handlers; “This New Ocean” (2013) in cooperation with various airlines, where the singers are crew members of the airlines. Béjar teaches Music and Media at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. Selected works ;Orchestra * Kilter for large orchestra (2007) ;Ensemble * Nachtschattenklänge for two pianos and percussion (2002) * Cortaziana für baritone und 14 instruments (2005) * In der Sonne trage schwarz for wind octett and double bass (2008)

Nicolás Ruiz Espadero

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Nicolás Ruiz Espadero (February 15, 1832 – August 30, 1890) was a Cuban pianist, composer, piano teacher and editor of the posthumous works of American composer-pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Espadero was born and died in Havana. In his time, he was the most famous Cuban composer, the only one published abroad, the only one who, at least in the eyes of his Cuban contemporaries, could compete with composers from Europe. Yet of all the Cuban composers of the 19th and early 20th century he was the most parochial and idiosyncratic one. Without schooling and formal musical training, he grew into a chronically shy person, emotionally dependent on his mother. He composed and continually practised, but gave few concerts and had little contact with other people. Espadero never left Cuba, indeed he seldom ever left his own house, where he lived with seventeen cats, surrounded by stacks of European music scores. Universally described as a recluse, he died from accidental burns after his usual bath in alcohol. Although brought up in a cosmopolitan atmosphere and surrounded by black Cuban music, he was the one Cuban composer who adopted but little of the local music tradition that inspired Ma

Niño Ruven

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Ruven Jiménez Urbano (Doña Mencía, 1997), known by his stage name Niño Ruven, is a Spanish musician and composer specialized in flamenco. He has established himself as one of the leading and innovative bassoonists of his generation, being the creator and the only worldwide exponent of the flamenco bassoon. Biography Niño Ruven was born in Doña Mencía, south of Spain, on 25 March 1997, although he has resided in the city of Lucena for a good part of his life. His stage name comes from the way his family has always referred to him. He debuted as a soloist at thirteen, moment in which he began to compose his first works. His artistic sensitivity can be appreciated in several recitals and competitions related to the classical world, from which he will gradually move away. In 2014, he obtained his first recognition, the Special Jury Award of the 1st Seville Double Reed Society Competition, awarded for his «outstanding performance and musical talent». In 2016, an American publisher specialized in double reed instruments published his compositional work as “something totally different, original and challenging”. He said goodbye to everything which is considered to be orthodox that year an

Octavio Vázquez

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Octavio Vázquez Rodríguez (born September 10, 1972) is a Galician-American New York-based composer of classical music. Biography Born in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain), Vázquez spontaneously started writing music at age 7. Not knowing how to notate music at that age, he created his own system. At age 12 he became music director at St. Peter’s church in Lugo. In 1989 he moved to Madrid, where he studied at the Adolfo Salazar Conservatory and the Madrid Royal Conservatory, taking degrees in piano, collaborative piano, and theory. While in Madrid he also worked as assistant conductor to Oscar Gershensohn and pursued graduate studies in conducting and musicology. After winning the prestigious Barrié de la Maza Foundation Scholarship, he went on to study composition at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and afterwards obtained his doctorate from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was on a full Fellowship. Since 1999 he resides in New York City. He is primarily interested in the “…emotional impact of his music and direct communication with the listener”. His music has been described as “…a burning torch for the next century” by Mark Greenfest, of the New Mus

Óscar Esplá

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Óscar Esplá y Triay (5 August 1886 – 6 January 1976) was a Spanish composer. The Conservatorio Superior de Música (conservatory) of the city of Alicante is dedicated to him. The Premio internacional de composición Óscar Esplá (Óscar Esplá international prize for composition) was created in 1955 and is awarded by the city of Alicante. Life Óscar Esplá was born on 5 August 1886 in Alicante, in the Kingdom of Spain. His early musical studies were with his father, Trino Esplá, and with Fernando Lloret and . In 1903 he went to Barcelona to study industrial engineering, but later changed to study philosophy. He studied composition with Francisco Sánchez Gavagnac. In 1911, after winning an international prize, he went to Austria and Germany; he met Ferdinand Löwe in Vienna, and Max Reger in Meiningen. In 1912–13 he was in Paris; he met Saint-Saëns, but there is no evidence that he studied with him. In 1936 Esplá was appointed director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación in Madrid, but did not take up the position. Instead, because of the Spanish Civil War, he left Spain and went with his family to Belgium, where he worked for Le Soir, which at that time was under Nazi co

Pablo Casals

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Pablo Casals (29 December 187622 October 1973), also known by his birth name, Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ), was a Catalan cellist, composer, and conductor, born in Spain. He made many recordings throughout his career of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, including some as conductor, but he is perhaps best remembered for the recordings he made of the Cello Suites by Bach. Casals had an international career and traveled and performed widely. With the fall of Republican Spain to the Nationalist forces of Francisco Franco in 1939, Casals went into self-exile, refusing to return to Spain until democracy was restored. He lived in Prades, France from 1939 to 1956, and then in Ceiba, Puerto Rico from 1956 until his death in 1973. President John F. Kennedy awarded Casals the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, though the ceremony was presided over by President Johnson. One of his last compositions was the Hymn to the United Nations, which he conducted at the United Nations in 1971. At that event, he was awarded the U.N. Peace Medal in recognition of his stance for peace, justice and freedom. In accepting the award, he gave a short speech I Am a Catalan and performed the traditional

Pablo de Sarasate

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Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908) was a Spanish virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor of the Romantic period. His best known works include Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs), the Spanish Dances, and the Carmen Fantasy. Biography Sarasate was born in Pamplona, Navarre, in 1844, the son of Don Miguel Sarasate, a local artillery bandmaster. Apparently, after seeing his father struggle with a passage for a long time, he picked up the violin and played it perfectly. He began studying the violin with his father at the age of five and later took lessons from a local teacher. His musical talent became evident early on and he appeared in his first public concert in La Coruña at the age of eight. His performance was well-received, and caught the attention of a wealthy patron who provided the funding for Sarasate to study under Manuel Rodríguez Saez in Madrid, where he gained the favor of Queen Isabella II. Later, as his abilities developed, his parents decided to send him to study under Jean-Delphin Alard at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of twelve. Aboard the train en route to Paris, his mother (who had been accompanying him) died of a hea

Pablo Luna

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Pablo Luna Carné (May 21, 1879 Alhama de Aragón – January 28, 1942 Madrid) was a Spanish composer. His best-known composition is the aria “De España vengo” from the zarzuela El niño judío. Life Pablo Luna received his first lessons in music theory from an organist at a church in his birthplace, Alhama de Aragón. His father, Pablo Luna Ferrer, who was a member of the Civil Guard, had moved with his family to the valley of the Ebro. He studied harmony with Teodoro Ballo and composition with Miguel Arnaudas. As a violinist, Luna would make money in hotels, cafes, churches and a small chamber orchestra, as well as in theaters. In 1903 he wrote his first operetta, Lolilla, la Petenera which was followed in 1904 by La Escalera de los Duendes (The Ladder of the Elves). In 1905, he moved to Madrid to learn more about the world of zarzuela. In particular, he contacted Ruperto Chapí, the second director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela, and Tomás Barrera Saavedra, a later director of the orchestra, Jerónimo Giménez y Bellido and others. He also knew the librettist Luis Pascual Frutos, who wrote the libretto for the operetta Mussetta, which premiered successfully in 1908. This operetta was follow

Palmira Jaquetti i Isant

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Palmira Jaquetti i Isant (1895–1963) was a Catalan folklorist, poet, businesswoman, composer, musicologist, ethnologist and writer. Biography Jaquetti was born in 1895 in Barcelona. After completing her Bachelor of Arts, she taught music and French literature at a high school. Her volume of poetry, La estrella dentro del hogar (The Star Within the Home) (1938), written during the Spanish Civil War reflected a marked sensitivity and musical stylization. She also published song booklets Between 1925 and 1940, she carried out missions to collect popular songs for the Obra del Cançoner Popular de Catalunya (Work of the popular songbook of Catalonia). Jaquetti was one of the most important collectors of these songs worldwide. The sheer number of songs collected in her field work with d’Aoust, María Carbó Soler and Mercè Porta Pino is considered to be a pillar in the field. Jaquetti continued with this worke on her own even after the project was disbanded during the Civil War. In the postwar period, she continued her occupation as a French teacher until the traffic accident in which she died in 1963 in Santa Margarida i els Monjos. Death and legacy In 1927, she married the Belgian painte

Pedro Albéniz

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Pedro Albéniz y Basanta (14 April 179512 April 1855) was a Spanish pianist and composer. He was unrelated to Isaac Albéniz. Life Albéniz was born in Logroño, La Rioja. He began his studies with his father Mateo Albéniz, a notable church musician in Spain. He furthered his education in Paris, where he was instructed by eminent teachers and received musical advice from Rossini. Returning to Spain in 1830, he served as organist at the Church of Santa María in San Sebastián and then became a professor at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, organist of the Capilla Real, and the personal piano teacher of Queen Isabella II. He died in Madrid. Later in life he neglected his career as a concert pianist and dedicated himself instead to teaching. He left behind many compositions for piano, chamber music and songs, but was subsequently remembered chiefly for his piano method, which was studied by all Spanish pianists at the Madrid Conservatory during the mid-19th century. Compositions Works for concert band * 1813 Himno - cantado en la ciudad de San Sebastián en obsequio a los Reyes N.N.S.S., dedicadoa sus Magestades, for concert band and great mixed choir * 1833 Marcha e himno para la jura de la P

Pedro Bermúdez

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Pedro Bermúdez (1558–1605) was a Spanish composer and chapel master, who has been recognised as one of the most outstanding polyphonists in the New World, and who was active in Granada, Antequera, Cusco, Santiago de Guatemala (present-day Antigua Guatemala), and Puebla. Life Pedro Bermúdez was born 1558 in Granada, Spain. From an early age he was a choirboy in the cathedral of his home town, where he was taught by Santos de Aliseda. He later was a pupil of composition of Rodrigo de Ceballos (1530–81) at the Royal Chapel of Granada. In 1584, Bermúdez won the position of chapel master in Antequera, where he experienced continued strain and pressure from the church dignitaries, as he showed little inclination to teach the choirboys. After two years in that position he was dismissed following a fight with one of the choir singers. Returning to Granada, he became a singer in the Royal Chapel. In 1595 he was invited by Antonio de la Raya, newly appointed bishop of Cusco, Peru, to follow him to the New World and become the chapel master at the cathedral of that ancient Inca city, now under Spanish occupation. He commenced his activities in Cusco in September 1597. After only seven weeks,

Pedro de Lagarto

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Pedro de Lagarto (born circa 1465; died 1543 in Toledo) was a Spanish singer and composer of the Renaissance period. Almost nothing is known about his early years, but a document dated 1537 affirms that he had been in the service of the Toledo Cathedral for 62 years. This suggests that he entered the cathedral in 1475 as a choirboy. In June 1490 he became master of the choirboys (claustrero), replacing Juan de Triana in the post. In 1495 he succeeded in obtaining a prebend as a singer in open contest; according to the rules, the winner would be the “most accomplished and fluent singer” among the contestants, and highly trained in polyphonic composition. In 1507 he was seriously ill and does not seem to have resumed his duties as claustrero after this time. He held at least two chaplaincies at the cathedral and between 1530 and 1534 was maestro de ceremonias. By 1537, being deaf and blind, he asked to be relieved of his duties as chaplain; he died towards the end of 1543. Works The only works by Lagarto that survived to our days were the ones included in one or more cancioneros of his time. Four works have been explicitly attributed to him in the Cancionero Musical de Palacio: (: *A

Pedro Iturralde

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Pedro Iturralde Ochoa (13 July 1929 – 1 November 2020) was a Spanish jazz saxophonist, teacher and composer. Biography Iturralde was born in Falces on 3 July 1929. He began his musical studies with his father and performed in his first professional engagements on saxophone at age eleven. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, where he studied clarinet, piano, and harmony. He went on to lead his own jazz quartet at the W. Jazz Club in Madrid, experimenting with the combined use of flamenco and jazz, and making recordings for the Blue Note label. In 1972 he undertook further study in harmony and arranging at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He taught saxophone at the Madrid Royal Conservatory from 1978 until his retirement in 1994. He appeared in Spain and abroad as a soloist with the Spanish National Orchestra under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Sergiu Celibidache, Igor Markevitch, and others. When he was 20 years old he composed Czárdás for saxophone. He dedicated the present version of the work, orchestrated by his brother Javier, to a friend, saxophonist Theodore Kerkezos. He made recordings with the renowned flamenco guitarists Paco de Lucí

Pedro Ruimonte

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Pedro Ruimonte (or Rimonte, Ruymonte) (1565 – November 30, 1627) was a Spanish composer and musician who spent much of his career in the Low Countries. Early years He was born in Zaragoza, the son of Pedro Ruimonte and Gracia de Bolea y Latas, and was baptized in the Church of San Pablo in 1565. Pedro had three sisters, Justa, Gracia and Catalina. It is believed that he studied under Melchor Robledo, who gave public classes on music in La Seo, although he also could have studied with several other noted musicians who were in the city in the 16th century. Until his arrival in Brussels, nothing further is known of him. Stay in Flanders It is believed that Ruimonte arrived in Brussels in 1599 as a young man in the choir of the retinue of Archduke Albert of Austria and the Princess Isabel Clara Eugenia, new governors of the Low Countries. On August 17, 1601, he wrote to his sister, stating that he was maestro de música en la capilla de Sus Altezas Serenísimas (master of music in the chapel of His Majesty). In 1604, he announced himself on the title page of Missae sex as Maestro de la Capilla y de la Cámara de Sus Excelencias (maestro di cappella and of the chamber of His Majesty). In 1

Pedro Vilarroig

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Pedro Vilarroig (born November 8, 1954) is a professor of physics and cosmology at the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid and a former Spanish composer. He is a proponent of neotonalism, having founded and led the Asociación Española de Compositores Neotonales (Spanish Association of Neotonal Composers). Biography Vilarroig was born in Madrid in 1954. His mother was a violinist and his father a painter. As a child, he often used to paint while listening to music. By this means, he heard a great deal of music by the great masters of classicism, who noticeably influenced him. While going for long walks, he would often hear new music in his head. Vilarroig graduated with a doctorate in Mining Engineer, and entered the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música of Madrid in 1973 when he was 19 years old (most of the Conservatory’s students enter as young children). When Vilarroig had finished his studies, he joined the Laboratorio de Interpretación Musical (Music Performance Lab) LIM for two years acting as a collaborator, performer and composer in electroacoustics. Founder of the Asociación Musical Verda Stelo, he conducted a choir and a chamber orchestra for seven years. He read choral stu

Pere-Enric de Ferran i de Rocabruna

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Pere-Enric de Ferran i de Rocabruna (, Barcelona, 1865 – Brussels, 1919) was a Catalan-Spanish music composer. He received his first composition lessons from in Barcelona, completing his studies with Enric Morera. He was considered one of the budding young musician of the modernist period. In the works he produced, he distinguished himself in his handling of instrumentation. Among his works are an Andante premiered in Barcelona by the orchestra Crikboom; the stage works La Bodas de Camacho (libretto by Jacint Grau and Adrià Gual) and La Cegueta (libretto by Modest Urgell); the symphonic poem Le Soir (lyrics by the Belgian painter and poet Jean Delville); and Primavera, a work premiered in Brussels in 1914. His published songs include Primavera, Berceuse, Au Rosignol; Ofrena, and Praeterita. Few remained unfinished after his death: Les amantes de Palerme, opera in three acts; Barnum, operetta and El Silfo, symphonic poem. His documentary collection, with scores of more than 80 works, is archived and cataloged in the Library of Catalonia. Biography Personal life Pere-Enric de Ferran i de Rocabruna (Spanish: Pedro-Enrique, French: Pierre-Henri) was born in Barcelona on June 2, 1865 in

Rafael Antonio Castellanos

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Rafael Antonio Castellanos (c. 1725–1791) was a Guatemalan classical composer. His style is that of the late Spanish baroque, pre-classical, and classical periods, with frequent reference to Guatemalan folk music idioms. Life From an early age, Castellanos trained as an apprentice under his uncle Manuel José de Quirós, chapelmaster of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala. In 1740, the young Rafael signed a composition for voice and basso continuo, on the Latin text of the Second Lamentation of Jeremiah. This piece reflects his mastery of baroque writing and an unusual expressive talent. In 1745 he became a journeyman and was admitted as a member of the cathedral orchestra as first violin, sometimes also playing harp. During the 1750s he produced various of his own compositions for the matins services, along with those of his uncle. When Quirós died in 1765, Castellanos was appointed his successor as chapel master, with the duties of conducting cathedral music during matins, vespers, and Mass, and of composing suitable music for different liturgical occasions. After the earthquake of 1773 life changed dramatically in the City of Santiago de Guatemala, which would shortly move to t

Rafael Hernando

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Rafael José Maria Hernando y Palomar (31 May 1822, in Madrid – 10 July 1888, in Madrid) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas, being that his contributions to the genre lead to the development of the zarzuela grande. His body of work consists of 17 operettas and some religious works. None of his zazuelas has been in the repertoire of today. Biography Son of Pedro Hernando and Eugenia Hernando Palomar, his mother left him an orphan at the age of two. At fifteen he entered the Madrid Conservatory, In 1843, he moved to Paris, studying with Miguel García and befriending Daniel Auber. Works *1849 El duende - Zarzuela - Libreto by Luis de Olona *1849 Palo de ciego - Zarzuela en 1 acto - Libreto by Juan del Peral *1849 Colegialas y soldados - Zarzuela en 2 actos - Libreto by Mariano Pina *1850 Bertoldo y comparsa - Libreto by Gregorio Romero y Larrañaga *1851 Escenas de Chamberí - Collective work - Libreto by Luis de Olona *1851 Segunda parte de El duende - Zarzuela en 2 actos - Libreto by Luis de Olona *1852 El novio pasado por agua - Zarzuela en 3 actos - Libreto by Manuel Bretón de los Herreros *1852 El secreto de la Reina - Co-authors Joaquín Gaztambide and José Inzenga *1853 Don Simpli

Ramón Carnicer

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Ramón Carnicer i Batlle (October 24, 1789 – March 17, 1855) was a Spanish composer and opera conductor, today best known for composing the National Anthem of Chile. Biography Carnicer was born in Tàrrega, Spain. His first major positions were as conductor for the opera, and he was influential in the development of the Spanish national opera style, zarzuela. He conducted the Italian Opera in Barcelona from 1818 to 1820, and the Royal Opera in Madrid from 1828 to 1830, as well as composing nine operas. * Il dissoluto punito, ossia Don Giovanni Tenorio (1822, premiered again in 2006), Opera in Italian, in two acts, libretto by Giovanni Bertati. * Elena e Malvina (1827), Opera in two acts * Cristoforo Colombo (1829), Opera * Eufemio di Messina (1832), Opera * Guglielmo Tell (1834), Opera * Eran due or sono tre, o sea, Gli esposti (1836), Opera buffa in two acts. Libretto by Jacopo Ferretti * Ismalia o Morte ed amore (1838), Opera in two acts * Laura y Don Gonzalo (1841), òpera in 4 acts. Music attributed to Carnicer. Libretto attributed to Manuel Bretón de los Herreros * Ipermestra (1843), drama in three acts. Words by Pietro Metastasio. Authorship discussed * Lucrezia Borgia. Attribut

Ramón Sender (composer)

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Ramón Sender Barayón (born October 29, 1934) is a composer, visual artist and writer. He was the co-founder with Morton Subotnick of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in 1962. He is the son of Spanish writer Ramón J. Sender. Education Sender was born in Madrid, Spain, and left the country during the civil war following the Fascist coup there in 1936. He studied piano with George Copeland, harmony with Elliott Carter, and counterpoint and fugue with Harold Shapero (1948–1951). Sender attended the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Columbia University in New York, where he studied with Henry Cowell. He also studied with Robert Erickson at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (1959–1962) and at Mills College, where he studied with Darius Milhaud. Sender holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and an M.A. from Mills College. San Francisco Tape Music Center Sender co-founded the San Francisco Tape Music Center in 1962 with Morton Subotnick and also collaborated with composers and visual artists including Pauline Oliveros, Tony Martin, Joseph Byrd, Terry Riley, William Maginnis, and many others until 1966 when the Center was incorporated

Raquel García-Tomás

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Raquel García-Tomás (born in Barcelona, 1984) is a Spanish composer specialized in multidisciplinary and collaborative creation. In 2020 she was awarded the Premio Nacional de Música in the Composition category, annually granted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain. With her work “Alexina B.” she became the second female composer to premiere an opera at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the first in the 21st century. Life and career She studied musical composition at the Catalonia College of Music (ESMUC) and earned her doctorate at the Royal College of Music in London, where she lived for six years. She has worked on joint creations with the English National Ballet, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Dresden Music Festival. Her music has been performed at the Auditori de Barcelona, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Teatre Lliure, the National Theater of Catalonia, the Palau de la Música in Valencia, the Teatro Español, the Teatros del Canal, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Her compositions have been heard in various cities, mainly in Europe, but also in Cairo, Rosario, and Buenos Aires. She collaborated in the creation of the chamber opera “Dido reloade

Ricardo Curto

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Ricardo Curto is a Spanish composer who creates film scores. He composed the soundtracks for several popular Netflix series and is a two-time Hollywood Music in Media Award nominee. Early life He started his career as a jazz pianist, performing in a jazz trio comprising piano, drums and double bass. He released his first solo album, Cada Día Como El Último, in 2010. The eight-track album featured six of Curto’s original compositions along with renditions of the jazz standards Footprints and Caravan. Curto dedicated the album’s opening and closing tracks to Esbjörn Svensson. Curto studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and completed his master’s degree at Berklee’s Valencia campus. He began scoring films after finishing his master’s degree at Berklee, Valencia. Career Curto has composed music for other television series, including El Desorden Que Dejas on Netflix and RTVE’s Ana Tramel El Juego. Curto joined Netflix’s Élite after working with Carlos Montero Castiñeira on Netflix’s mini-series The Mess You Leave Behind. Although the series’ previous composers had established its musical themes, prior to Curto’s arrival, the series’ soundtrack featured a lot of songs with lyrics

Ricardo Llorca

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Ricardo Llorca (born 1958, Alicante) is a Spanish-American composer based in New York City since 1988. Llorca is a Juilliard School graduate and a faculty member of “The Juilliard School of Music Evening Division” since 1995. In addition, he is a Composer-in-residence for the New York-based contemporary dance company Henning Rübsam’s Sensedance " and a composer-in-residence of NYOS (“The New York Opera Society” ) since 2008. His work includes operas such as “Las Horas Vacías” (“The Empty Hours”) and the opera “Tres Sombreros de Copa " (“Three Top Hats”). Llorca is also a composer of symphonic, chamber, choral, and music for theater, movies, and television. Some of Ricardo Llorca’s sources for his thematic inspiration are taken from his Mediterranean roots, mixed with elements of contemporary music. Career Cultural management Throughout his career, Ricardo Llorca has fostered partnerships with public and private institutions to advance the appreciation of contemporary and classical music. Since 2008 he has been working as Composer-in-Residence and deputy director at The New York Opera Society, collaborating with Jennifer Cho in organizing concerts and cultural events, seeking sponso

Roberto Bienzobas

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Roberto Bienzobas Gárate (born in Bilbao on 8 October 1942 ) is a Basque musician, conductor, composer and choir director. Life and career He was born in Bilbao on 8 October 1942. He has worked as a musician and director of orchestras and choirs. He has also worked as a musician, trainer and teacher of musicians and composers in different institutions. As a musician he is trained in transverse flute, flute and piano. As choir director, he has directed different choirs, such as the Coro Euskería of the Sociedad Coral de Bilbao, Coral Gaztelumendi, Coro de Voces Blancas Antxieta and others. He has been directing the Deustoarrak Choir created in 1957 for more than twenty years. References

Roberto Gerhard

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Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder (; 25 September 1896 – 5 January 1970) was a Spanish and British composer, musical scholar, and writer, generally known outside his native region of Catalonia as Roberto Gerhard. Early life Gerhard was born in Valls, near Tarragona, Spain. His father was of German and Swiss ancestry; his mother was from Alsace-Lorraine. He studied piano with Enrique Granados and composition with scholar-composer Felip Pedrell, teacher of Isaac Albéniz, Granados and Manuel de Falla. Gerhard visited Falla in Granada, but dismissed him as a possible teacher and decided to shut himself away in a Catalan farmhouse to reflect on his professional future and concentrate on his work. Seeking systematicity, he turned his gaze to German avant-garde music and decided to send a long letter to the composer Arnold Schoenberg, enclosing his compositions, on 21 October 1923, begging to be accepted as his pupil. After the latter’s acceptance, Gerhard immediately left for Vienna. He was Schoenberg’s only Spanish pupil. Gerhard studied with Schoenberg in Vienna and Berlin between 1923 and 1928, and the teacher-pupil relationship became a lifelong friendship, as is shown in the complete co

Rodolfo Halffter

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Rodolfo Halffter Escriche (30 October 1900 – 14 October 1987) was a Spanish composer, music critic, and professor with Mexican citizenship (from 1939). He wrote in a style always informed by his early engagement with the modernist aesthetics of Madrid’s , finding inspiration in the music of Claude Debussy, Manuel de Falla, and Arnold Schoenberg. Halffter came from a musical family. Though largely self-taught as a composer, he studied Schoenberg’s Harmonielehre and was advised by Falla. His music has been compared to Domenico Scarlatti’s in its neoclassicism and to Falla’s in its mild polytonality. Like others in his milieu, Halffter chose to leave Francoist Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War. He emigrated to Mexico in 1939 and taught there for more than three decades, enjoying increasing recognition. Several notable composers are among his students. Starting in 1953, he became the first composer to use twelve-tone technique in Mexico. Halffter returned to Spain beginning in the 1960s, where he also taught, and received its in 1986. He was also honored in Mexico, where he died. He wrote music in many genres and for many films. Biography Early years Born in Madrid to a family

Rodrigo de Ceballos

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Rodrigo de Ceballos (also Çavallos, Cevallos, Zaballos; c.1525-c.1581 ) was a Spanish composer. Early life His father’s family de Ceballos Cabanilla came from Burgos, and he may have trained as a musician there. However, he was born in Aracena (Huelva), and was ordained a priest in Seville in 1556. He was the brother of the composer Francisco de Ceballos. Career He is classed among the composers of the Andalusian school, alongside better-known composers such as Francisco Guerrero (who, with Pedro Fernández de Castilleja, gave him his holy orders) or Cristobal de Morales. He occupied a succession of posts in Andalusia. He was named Maestro de capilla in Málaga in 1554, in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba in 1556, and in the Royal Chapel of Granada in 1561 until his death in 1581. Works His polyphonic works, preserved in various Spanish and Latin American cathedrals and monasteries, are often confused with those of Francisco de Ceballos. Francisco, who was maestro at Burgos Cathedral from 1535 to his death in 1571, was Rodrigo’s uncle. 79 works of Rodrigo’s are known to survive; these include 39 motets, three masses, eight psalms for Vespers, six hymns, eight settings of the Magnifica

Román Alís

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Román Alís (1931 – 2006) was a Spanish composer. He was born in Palma de Mallorca on August 24, 1931, and died in Madrid on 29 October 2006. Education and training Román Alís’ interest in music emerged in Barcelona in 1947, encouraged by the cultural movement in that city, absent in other populations in which his life had developed earlier. While pursuing his musical studies at the Conservatorio Superior Municipal de Música in Barcelona, alongside instructors such as Luis Maria Millet, John Gibert Camins, John Pich Santasusana, Joachim Zamacois and Eduard Toldrá, popular music became very important in his early career. Performer, conductor, arranger, and composer worked for big bands, publishers, record labels, and radio. This certainly would not have been possible without his spontaneous ease of creation, which made him compose a large number of works from the start. Career After moving to Seville in 1960, he obtained the following year the First Place Grand Prize for Composition in the Divonne-Les-Bains International Contest held in Paris. There he was honoured by the organization, the jury, the press and the French Radiotelevisión, and was able to meet personally with musicians

Ruperto Chapí

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Ruperto Chapí y Lorente (27 March 1851 – 25 March 1909) was a Spanish composer, and co-founder of the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers. Biography Chapí was born at Villena, the son of a local barber. At just nine years old, he joined the Música Nueva band (current Villena Municipal Band) where he would soon become a virtuoso and of which he would end up being director at only 15 years old. He would gain some fame as an interpreter in the surroundings of the Moors and Christians Festival of Villena, also being highly sought after in those of other nearby towns. In the Valencian-speaking towns, to the north and northeast of Villena, he was popularly known as “el xiquet de Villena” and they continually disputed hiring him, given his brilliance. He continued training in his home town and in Madrid when he was 16 years old. He wrote many symphonic, band, choral and chamber works, as well as zarzuelas and operas, becoming, alongside Tomás Bretón, a fellow pupil of Emilio Arrieta at the Madrid Conservatory. He was one of the most popular and important composers of his time. He wrote zarzuelas in all shapes and sizes, including the three-act zarzuela grande and the one-act género

Santiago de Murcia

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Santiago de Murcia (25 July 1673 – 25 April 1739) was a Spanish guitarist and composer. Biography Until new research was published in 2008, few details about the life of Santiago de Murcia were known. However, it is now known that he was born in Madrid and that his parents were Juan de Murcia and Magdalena Hernandez. He married Josefa Garcia in May 1695. In his printed collection of guitar music, Resumen de acompañar, Murcia describes himself as Master of Guitar to the Spanish Queen Maria Luisa of Savoy. She was the first wife of the first Bourbon king of Spain, Philip (Felipe) V, a grandson of Louis XIV of France who succeeded to the Spanish throne on the death of Carlos II in November 1700. The marriage took place by proxy in Turin on 11 September 1701. On 3 November the marriage was re-celebrated in Figueras, Gerona. In April 1702, Felipe V left on a tour of his Italian possessions appointing Maria Luisa as regent in his absence. There is no reason to suppose that Murcia travelled with him to Naples, Italy, or met the composers Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti. Maria Luisa arrived in Madrid on 30 June and Murcia is not likely to have been appointed as her Master of Gui

Santiago Masarnau Fernández

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Santiago Masarnau y Fernández (9 December 1805 – 14 December 1882; also known as Santiago Fernández de Masarnau or Santiago de Masarnau) was a Spanish pianist, composer and religious activist for the poor. He established the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, an organization composed of laymen dedicated to serving the poor, in Spain. A cause for his canonization has been opened by that society. Early life Masarnau was born in Madrid in 1805 to Santiago Masarnau y Torres, a native of Copons in Catalonia and Beatriz Fernández y Carredano, from the Omoño sector of the town of Ribamontán al Monte in Cantabria, a family with close connections to the Spanish aristocracy and court. His mother died in 1808. At that same time, after the abdication of King Ferdinand VII of Spain and the subsequent outbreak of the Peninsular War, Masarnau senior was appointed the Secretary of the Royal Association of Nobility of Córdoba, in the service of the Count of Miranda, and the father moved with his three children to Andalucia. The son proved to be a musical prodigy in his childhood, and soon began the study of music under the organist of the Cathedral of Granada, José Rouré y Llamas. When King Ferdinan

Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia

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Sebastian Aguilera de Heredia (August 1561 – 16 December 1627) was a Spanish monk, musician and composer of the Renaissance period. Life Aguilera was the first organist at the cathedral in Huesca from 1585 to 1603. During this time, he assisted in the construction of a new organ. In 1603, Aguilera moved to a more prestigious position as maestro de música at Cathedral of the Savior of Zaragoza in Zaragoza. He remained there until his death in 1627. He published a collection of works in 1618, and eighteen of his keyboard works survive. Aguilera is considered the first major figure of the Aragonese School of music centered on Zaragoza. Music and Influence Aguilera composed both organ and vocal music. His work was written specifically for the church. While Aguilera’s organ works do follow Spanish traditions, they also introduce new innovations. He created different types of tientos, including pieces that explored heavy dissonance, slow tempos, and unusual harmonies. He referred to this type of music as falsas. Aguilera’s monothematic tientos use various contrapuntal and rhythmic techniques in order to develop a single theme. One of the most regarded techniques used in Aguilera’s organ

Sebastián de Vivanco

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Sebastián de Vivanco (c. 1551 in Ávila – October 26, 1622 in Salamanca) was a Spanish priest and composer of the Renaissance. Life Vivanco was born in Ávila, like Tomás Luis de Victoria; however, the exact date of his birth is unknown. It is hypothesized that he was born a few years after Victoria and that they both knew each other as children and sang together at the chapel of the Cathedral of Ávila. During the time that Vivanco sang in the chorus, the maestri di cappella were Gerónimo de Espinar, Bernardino de Ribera (1559) and Juan Navarro Hispalensis (1563). This last composer had the most profound influence on Vivanco. After 1566, with the change in his voice, Vivanco commenced studies as a priest, as Victoria had done. Around 1576, while still a subdeacon, he was named maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Lérida, but shortly thereafter, on July 4, 1576, he was dismissed from this position. Upon his return to Castille, in February 1577, he was named maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Segovia, a position of higher prestige and pay than the previous ones. He moved there with his mother and remained there for the following ten years. During this period he became a deacon

Sebastián Durón

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Sebastián Durón (19 April (baptized) 1660 – 3 August 1716) was a Spanish organist and composer of the Baroque period. Sebastián Durón Picazo was, with Antonio de Literes, the greatest Spanish composer of stage music of his time. Life and career Durón was born in Brihuega, Guadalajara, Spain, and was the eldest child of two younger brothers and three sisters. His father, Sebastián Durón, was the church sacristan of Brihuega. Diego Durón, Durón’s half-brother, was also a composer. Sebastián Durón began his musical training with Andrés de Sola, who was the lead organist at La Seo Cathedral in Zaragoza. In 1679, Durón briefly took on the role of paid assistant to Sola before becoming the second organist at Seville Cathedral. He served in Seville until 1685, composing sacred music and villancicos while taking minor holy orders. Due to financial reasons, Durón moved to Burgo de Osma Cathedral as first organist, where he was given a stipend and a salary. In 1686, he accepted a more profitable position at Palencia Cathedral where he taught and composed for five years. Sebastián served as organist and choirmaster at various cathedrals (Seville, Cuenca, El Burgo de Osma, Plasencia) until in

Sebastián Raval

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Sebastián Raval (c. 15501604) was a Spanish composer of vocal and instrumental music. Born in Cartagena, he served as a soldier of the Army of Flanders in Flanders and Sicily. He joined the order of St. John of Jerusalem after being wounded in the siege of Maastricht. He moved to Italy where he served as a musician in the court of Francesco Maria II della Rovere in Urbino, of the viceroy of Sicily, Bernardino de Cárdenas, and of the cardinals Peretti and Colonna in Rome. In Rome, he declared himself the “best musician in the world”, on account of which he was challenged to a musical contest first by Giovanni Maria Nanino and shortly afterwards by Francesco Soriano. Raval was defeated in both cases. On 28 April 1595 he succeeded Luis Ruiz as the last Spanish maestro di cappella of the viceroyal chapel of the Spanish viceroys in Palermo. In Sicily, he again challenged a musician, Achille Falcone, to a contest; it was first decided in Falcone’s favour but, after some appeals, in Raval’s. After Falcone’s death in 1600, Antonio Falcone, father of Achille, published all the process of this musical duel in his Relazione del successo and took Raval and Falcone’s pieces (the object of this

Severo Muguerza

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Severo Muguerza (1883–1952) was a composer of Spanish, Basque, and Neapolitan zarzuelas and operettas. He was born in San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, País Vasco, Spain, and lived his later years in Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico. Career In 1911 Severo Muguerza and his orchestra accompanied the great Mexican soprano diva and actress, Esperanza Iris (1884–1962), known as the “Queen of Operetta” of zarzuelas and operettas, on one of the earliest phonographic recordings in the twentieth century, Aires De Primavera. Muguerza’s orchestra played La Cuarta Plana (1911), La Poupe (1911), Aires de Primavera (1911), Los Tres Deseos (1911), La Princesa del Dólar (1911), Vals de Amor (1911), Cura de Amor (1911), Maniobras de Otoño (1911), La Princesa de los Balkanes (1911), and La Hija del Príncipe (1911). Iris later built the Teatro Esperanza Iris in 1918, now called Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris, and is one of Mexico City’s oldest public venues for cultural events. At Madrid’s Teatro de la Latina in 1921, Severo Muguerza conducted the music for the one-act comic play La melindrosa (lyrics by Enrique F. Gutiérrez-Roig and Luis Gabaldón and music by Severo Muguerza) on April 15 and Noche de ronda,

Teresa Borràs i Fornell

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Teresa Borrás Fornell (July 30, 1923 in ManresaJuly 18, 2010 in Mataró) was a Catalan composer, music teacher and pianist. Biography Borràs began her musical studies at age eight at the Liceo Conservatory in Barcelona, where she studied piano, harmony and guitar. Teachers she studied with included Molinari, Agosti and Vito Frazzi. Later she studied harmony, counterpoint and composition with Cristòfor Taltabul. In 1950 she received a scholarship to study at the Accademia Chigiana of Siena (Italy), and received the scholarship again two years later. At this Academy, she received a grant to study master classes in composition and later studied two courses of Frazzi harpsichord in the Conservatory of Barcelona. In Siena she learned to play unusual instruments like the harpsichord and the harp, which added to her knowledge of piano and guitar. In 1979 she was awarded the Summer School Fellowship for Composition “Music in Compostela” in the class of Rodolfo Halffter. In 1997 she was awarded the “Caterina Albert i Paradis” prize. Between 1947 and 1953, she was a concert pianist. For seven years she was professor of piano and guitar at the Municipal Music School of Manresa, was also a prof

Tomás Bretón

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Tomás Bretón y Hernández (29 December 1850 – 2 December 1923) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Biography Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca. He completed his musical studies at the School of Fine Arts in his hometown, where he earned his living playing the violin in small provincial orchestras, theaters and churches. At age 16, he moved to Madrid, where he played the violin in orchestras in zarzuela theatres. He also began his studies of the violin and piano at the Royal Conservatory under Emilio Arrieta. In 1872, Bretón received the first prize for composition at the Conservatory, together with Ruperto Chapi. After having worked in small theaters for several years, in 1882 he received a grant from the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando which enabled him to study in Rome, Milan, Vienna and Paris between 1881 and 1884. There, he found time to work on more ambitious works, such the oratorio El Apocalipsis and the opera Los amantes de Teruel. The premiere of this last work at the Teatro Real de Madrid cemented his name as one of the major composers of Spanish opera. Briton was also very active as a conductor, first in the Unión Artistical Musical (1878–81), which he founded, an

Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco

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Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco Sánchez (23 December 1644 – 23 April 1728) was a Spanish composer, musician and organist based in Peru, associated with the American Baroque. Life Torrejón y Velasco was born in Villarrobledo and spent his childhood in the town Fuencarral (now a district of Madrid), the birthplace of his father, Miguel de Torrejón, a huntsman in Philip IV of Spain’s employ. In 1658, while still in Spain, he entered into the service of Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, Count of Lemos, who later became the viceroy of Peru. In 1667, he traveled to Lima along with the new viceroy, as one of the viceroy’s 113 personal attendants. From 21 November 1667 until 1672 he was superintendent of the armoury at Lima. In 1673 he was appointed magistrate and chief justice of Chachapoyas province, a position he held for four years. In 1676 he was appointed maestro de capilla at the Cathedral of Lima, replacing Juan de Araujo. He remained in that position until his death more than fifty years later in 1728. Torrejón seems to have been deeply religious, and adhered to the precepts of the Catholic Church as usual at the times for someone in his position. Married twice (his first wife died

Tomás Luis de Victoria

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Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria; c. 1548) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Renaissance, and was “admired above all for the intensity of some of his motets and of his Offices for the Dead and for Holy Week”. His surviving oeuvre, unlike that of his colleagues, is almost exclusively sacred and polyphonic vocal music, set to Latin texts. As a Catholic priest, as well as an accomplished organist and singer, his career spanned both Spain and Italy. However, he preferred the life of a composer to that of a performer. Life and career Family background and early years Tomás Luis de Victoria was born around 1548, most likely in Ávila, the main residence of his family at the time. Victoria’s birthplace has been the subject of debate, and remains unclear since his baptismal record has never been found. The town of Sanchidrián has been proposed as another possible birthplace, however it was only later that the Victorias would settle there, when Tomás’ eldest brother moved to Sanchidrián with his young family and widowed mother.

Tomás Marco

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Tomás Marco Aragón (born 12 September 1942) is a Spanish composer and writer on music. Life and work Marco was born in Madrid where he later studied violin and composition, while at the same time pursuing the study of law (he received his licenciate in law in 1963). He turned to composition in 1958, and in 1962 began attending the Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkurse, where he furthered his studies with Bruno Maderna, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, György Ligeti, Gottfried Michael Koenig, and Theodor W. Adorno. In 1967 he participated in Stockhausen’s collective composition project Ensemble at Darmstadt. His compositional style is rooted in the music of the Darmstadt School. For example, Transfiguración (1974) strongly recalls Ligeti’s Lux aeterna (1966)—both are composed for 16 solo voices—as well as the harmonic overtone-singing of Stockhausen’s Stimmung (1968). In 1965 he began a brief association with the neo-Dada composers’ group Zaj, founded the previous year by Walter Marchetti, Juan Hidalgo, and Ramón Barce. He helped to found the Studio Nueva Generación in 1967, by which time some of his compositions were beginning to include references to historical styles and qu

Toni Castells

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Toni Castells (born in Berga, Spain) is a Spanish composer based in London. His work combines elements of classical music, opera, electronic music, and contemporary sound art, often drawing on genres such as neo-classical, ambient, and classical crossover. Castells has collaborated with various performers and has presented his compositions at venues in the United Kingdom and other places in Europe. His musical style has drawn comparisons to a diverse range of artists. Ben Roberts of London Tourdates described it as “Massive Attack meets Mendelssohn”, while producer Michael Haas described it as “Morricone meets Satie.” The US label Magnatune characterised it as “Puccini meets Sigur Rós”. In addition to his musical career, Castells is a PhD candidate in biomedical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, exploring the therapeutic potential of music. His research focuses on the effects of sound on heart rate variability and chronic stress. He lectures on Music Technology at the London College of Music and Imperial College London. Early Music Career Castells began his musical education at the age of four. At six, he was identified as a child with high capacities, a detai

Valentin Zubiaurre

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Valentin Zubiaurre Urionabarrenechea (13 February 1837 – 13 January 1914) was a Spanish composer who was a professor at the Madrid Royal Conservatory and worked at the Chapel Royal. Life Zubiaurre was born in Garay, a Basque town in the province of Biscay on 13 February 1837. His first musical experience was as a choirboy in Bilbao, and he later went on to study the organ. He traveled to Latin America in 1852, where he taught music until 1866, when he returned to Spain. This proved to be fruitful, as in 1869 he won the National Music Competition for an opera called Ferdinand Set. He was noticed by authorities and received a scholarship from the Academy of Fine Arts, with which he visited France, Germany and Italy to study. Upon his return he entered the Chapel Royal, which he eventually became master of in 1878. At the chapel he composed religious music and audition pieces for applicants. one of his only compositions still used for the purpose of examination. Known works Solo pieces *Audition Piece for Trumpet *Fantasy for horn with piano accompaniment *Oboe solo with piano accompaniment Operas *Luis de Camoes *Ferdinand Set *Leda Orchestral *Symphony in E minor (1870) Religious mu

Vicenç Cuyàs

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Vicente Cuyás () (Palma de Mallorca, 6 February 1816 – Barcelona, 7 March 1839) was a Spanish composer known for his romantic opera La fattucchiera. Vicente Cuyás was born to a Catalan family in Palma de Mallorca where his family had fled during the Peninsular War. Shortly thereafter, the family returned to Barcelona where Cuyás began studies in medicine, which he soon abandoned. At the age of 17 he began to study music with Ramón Vilanova, one of Barcelona’s most prestigious teachers during the early nineteenth century, who in turn had trained in Milan with abbé Isidore Piantanida. Cuyás’ early works consist of some operatic music which was premiered widely in private salons, but it was at the Teatre de la Santa Creu where almost all of his works were produced. His First Symphony, written in 1835, although it is actually an extensive opera overture in a single movement — but it gained him some notice when it was dedicated to the actress Matilde Díez. although it is sung in Italian. In order to finish La fattuchiera “in record time”, Cuyàs father had also died of tuberculosis during the rehearsals. The opera is based on a novel by the Viscount of Arlincourt which had already been a

Vicente Asencio

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Vicente Asencio y Ruano (29 October 1908 – 4 April 1979) was a Spanish composer. He is perhaps best known for his works for guitar of which guitarists Andrés Segovia and Narciso Yepes were notable exponents. Life Born in Valencia, Asencio began his musical training as a boy with his father. After studying violin in Castellón de la Plana with Emilio Bou, he moved to Barcelona to pursue studies at the Academia Frank Marshall with Frank Marshall and Enric Morera i Viura. He also studied privately in that city with Joaquín Turina and Ernesto Halffter. He also studied conducting in Paris and Milan. Asencio began composing in the early 1920s, and his first major success was the ballet Fuego de Fiesta (1926). His earlier music displays an evident influence of the composer Manuel de Falla. In 1932 he founded the Conservatorio de Música de Castellón de la Plana with violinist Abel Mus. In 1934 he helped formed the Grupo de los Jóvenes, a group of talented young musicians in Valencia whose members also included Vicente Garcés and Ricardo Olmos among others. In 1943 Asencio married one of his pupils, the composer and painter Matilde Salvador. They became one of the most influential artistic c

Vicente Espinel

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Vicente Gómez Martínez-Espinel (; 28 December 15504 February 1624) was a Spanish writer and musician of the Siglo de Oro. He is credited with the creation of the modern poetic form of the décima, composed of ten octameters, named espinela in Spanish after him. Biography Espinel was born in Ronda. He studied at the University of Salamanca, where he adopted as his own his father’s second surname, and later on at the universities of Granada and Alcalá. As a latinist, he translated to Spanish Horace’s Epistola ad Pisones. After leaving university, he had an adventurous life as a soldier, serving in Flanders and elsewhere. He was a prisoner of pirates at Argel and a soldier in Italy after being liberated, and returned to Spain about 1584. Afterwards, he moved to Madrid and took holy orders in 1589. Four years later he became chaplain at Ronda, but absented himself from his living. Still, his musical skill obtained for him the post of choirmaster at Plasencia. His (Assorted Rhymes), produced in 1591, showed a caustic wit. Later, in 1618, the printer Juan de la Cuesta published Espinel’s picaresque novel , for which he is best known. This book, with several autobiographical details, was p

Vicente Gómez (composer)

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Vicente Gómez (8 July 1911 – 23 December 2001) was a Spanish guitarist and composer. Biography Gómez was born in Madrid, where he learned his trade in a tavern owned by his father, located in the red-light district of Madrid. He worked there until he was 25 when he visited Russia. He was involved in politics and opposed to General Franco. He visited Cuba and Mexico, and he was discovered while making a radio show in Mexico. He worked in New York and toured South America. In 1943, he became a U.S. citizen and served in the American army. In 1950 he performed in the Cary Grant film Crisis as the guitarist Cariago in an uncredited performance. In the 1950s, he signed with American Decca Records, he composed for Hollywood films, and then he retired to compose and teach. Gómez’s students included Ricky Nelson and the wife of Omar Bradley. Musical compositions Original theme for guitar and orchestra, soundtrack of the film Blood and Sand (1941), played by the composer himself. “Verde luna” (Green Moon), rumba Bolero, also featured in Blood and Sand. It was recorded by Alfredo Antonini and his orchestra featuring Victoria Cordova and John Serry Sr. in 1949, and also recorded by the Italia

Vicente Martín y Soler

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Anastasio Martín Ignacio Vicente Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin Martín y Soler (2 May 175430 January or 10 February 1806) was a Spanish composer of opera and ballet. Although relatively obscure now, in his own day he was compared favorably with his contemporary and admirer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as a composer of opera buffa. In his time he was called “Martini lo spagnuolo” (“Martini the Spaniard”); in modern times, he has been called “the Valencian Mozart”. He was known primarily for his melodious Italian comic operas and his work with Lorenzo Da Ponte in the late 18th century, as well as the melody from Una cosa rara quoted in the dining scene of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Soon, Martín y Soler was also composing highly successful operas for Joseph II’s imperial theater. After returning to St Petersburg, he wrote his last opera, La festa del villaggio (1798). He also wrote a number of tragic ballets during his residence as Court Composer there, including Didon abandonée (1792), Amour et Psyché (1793, based on Psyché by Molière, Corneille and Philippe Quinault), Tancrède (1799) and Le retour de Poliorcète (1799). Shortly before his 1806 death in Saint Petersburg, he served as inspector fo

Xavier Montsalvatge

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Xavier Montsalvatge i Bassols (; 11 March 1912 – 7 May 2002) was a Spanish composer and music critic. He was one of the most influential figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the 20th century. Biography Life Montsalvatge was born in Girona, and studied violin and composition at the Barcelona Conservatory. His principal teachers were Lluís Maria Millet, Enric Morera, Jaume Pahissa, and Eduard Toldrà. After the Spanish Civil War, Montsalvatge began work as a music critic when he joined the weekly Destino in 1942, a publication he would eventually direct in 1968 and 1975. He wrote additionally for the daily La Vanguardia after 1962. Montsalvatge also returned to teach at his alma mater, becoming a lecturer in 1970, and then a professor of composition in 1978. In 1982 he served on the jury of the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition. He was awarded Spain’s Premio Nacional de Música for composition in 1985. He died in Barcelona, aged 90, and was buried at the Sant Gervasi Cemetery Barcelona. Work Montsalvatge’s style evolved over several different phases. At the start of his career, he was strongly influenced by the twelve-tone technique and by Wagnerism,

Xavier Pagès i Corella

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Xavier Pagès i Corella (born 28 July 1971 in Sant Pere de Ribes) is a Catalan-Spanish composer and conductor. He studied at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu and the :ca:Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música de Barcelona, where he graduated in piano with Margarita Serrat and Montserrat Almirall, composition with Salvador Pueyo and conducting with Albert Argudo. In 1994 he won the :ca:Concurs Josep Mirabent i Magrans for young musicians, with which he studied conducting and composition with Diego Masson, László Heltay and Lou Harrison at the Dartington International Summer School. In 2000 he was admitted in the Konservatorium Wien, where he studied conducting with Reinhard Schwarz and Georg Mark. As a composer he won the Oare String Orchestra International Music for Strings Composing Competition (United Kingdom, 2004) with the work Path of Seconds for string orchestra and the 17th Ciutat de Tarragona International Award for Musical Composition (Spain, 2010) with the work Echoes for piano and orchestra. As a conductor he has been invited to conduct orchestras such as the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (Spain), Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes (Mexico), the Orquesta

Zeltia Montes

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Zeltia Montes Muñoz (born 1979) is a Spanish composer. She won the Goya Award for Best Original Score for her work in The Good Boss. Life and career Zeltia Montes Muñoz was born in 1979 in Madrid; her mother is from Madrid and her father from O Saviñao, Galicia. She studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2008, she collaborated in the documentary television series El camino del Cid (2008). Filmography References

Zulema de la Cruz

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Zulema de la Cruz Castillejo (born 9 March 1958) is a Spanish pianist and composer. Life Zulema de la Cruz was born in Madrid and studied at the Madrid Conservatory for piano and composition and Stanford University in California for composition and computer music, with professors including Carmelo Bernaola and Ramón Barce. She continued her studies at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University with John Chowning. After completing her studies, she took a position as professor in Electroacoustic Composition at the Madrid Conservatory in 1988. She has also taught at the Cuenca Conservatory, the Carlos III University of Madrid, and others. She was instrumental in establishing and has served as director of the Research Laboratory for Computer and Electroacoustic Composition (LICEO) at the Madrid Conservatory. De la Cruz has performed with Sax Ensemble since 1993, and also with Fundación Sax. She has also served as director of music festivals and on boards and advisory committees, including Consejo Nacional de La Música of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture. Her works have been performed internationally. Honors and awards *Ruiz Morales compe