Amadeo Vives
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Amadeu Vives i Roig (; 18 November 1871 – 2 December 1932) was a
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for '' Doña Francisquita'', which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyricism, fluent orchestration and colourful evocation of 19th Century
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
—not to mention its memorable vocal and choral writing", and characterizes as "without doubt the best known and loved of all his works, one of the few
zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...
s which has 'travelled' abroad" .Amadeo Vives
on zarzuela.net, accessed 19 December 2006.
The personal papers of Amadeu Vives are preserved in the
Biblioteca de Catalunya The Library of Catalonia (, ) is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic production and that related to the ...
.


Biography

A Catalan, Vives was born in
Collbató Collbató () is a municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the southern slopes of Montserrat (mountain), Montserrat. The area has been inhabited ...
, near
Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...
. He studied in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
under
José Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanis ...
, and in 1891 helped found the influential
Orfeó Català The Orfeó Català is a choral society based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, which was founded in 1891 by Lluís Millet and Amadeu Vives.William H. Robinson, Jordi Falgàs, Carmen Belen Lord Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí ...
choral society, a key element in the Catalan musical renaissance. He then became an early pupil of Felipe Pedrell, a fundamental figure of 20th century Spanish music. He soon moved to Madrid, where he lived the rest of his life, first publishing a series of concert works, solo and much-loved choral songs before turning to the ''zarzuelas'' on which his fame rests. Before turning to ''zarzuela'', Vives wrote a successful Catalan-language stage play, ''Jo no sabia que el món era així'' ("I didn't know the world was like this", 1929) and an ambitious four-act opera ''Artús'' (1897, Barcelona) based on Sir
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
. A year later, his first ''zarzuela'', the one-act ('' género chico'') ''La primera del barrio'', was produced at the
Teatro de la Zarzuela The Teatro de la Zarzuela is a theatre in Madrid, Spain. The theatre is today mainly devoted to zarzuela (the Spanish traditional musical theatre genre), as well as operetta and recitals. History The theatre was designed by architect Jerónim ...
in Madrid. His next several ''zarzuelas'' met some critical acclaim—particularly for ''Don Lucas del Cigarral'' (1899) and ''La balada de la luz'' (1900)—but his real critical and popular breakthrough came with the one-act '' Bohemios'' (1904). Vives drew on the same literary source as
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
's masterpiece ''
La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'', but his score shows French rather than Italian influences, as well as his own growing individuality. Soon after, he wrote two one-act ''zarzuelas'' in collaboration with
Gerónimo Giménez 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 nam ...
: ''El húsar de la guardia'' (1904) and ''La gatita blanca'' (1905) both remain in the repertory of ''zarzuela'' a century later, though other once-popular works, such as ''Los viajes de Gulliver'' (1911), have faded. Many of his other works continue to be performed: the
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
''La generala'' (1912; set in "
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and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
"); the pastoral opera ''Maruxa'' (1914, without spoken parts); ''Doña Francisquita'' (1923), which Webber characterizes as perhaps the finest of all three-act ''género grande'' zarzuelas" and "without doubt the best-known and -loved of all Vives' works"; and ''La villana'' (1927). His last works, the two-act ''zarzuelas'' ''Los flamencos'' (1928) and ''Noche de verbena'' (1929) "have not proved so durable" (Webber); the ''comedia lírica'' ''Talismán'' (1932) was a critical success, but a commercial failure. Vives died in Madrid in 1932.


Reputation

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...
once said that if Vives had sought to compose with a universal accent, he could have undoubtedly have been a major international figure. He aspired to become a symphonic composer, but never pursued that ambition. Webber remarks that "Perhaps he simply lacked the confidence to try. His autobiographical book ''Sofía'' (1923) paints a revealing picture of a nervous figure," suffering from several physical disabilities, and "never entirely satisfied with being 'just' the leading ''zarzuelero'' of his day."


Operas

*''Artus'' (1895) *''Don Lucas del Cigarral'' (1899) *''La balada de la luz'' (1900) *''Euda d'Uriach'' (1900) *'' Los amores de la Inés'' (1902, with
Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20t ...
) *''Bohemios'' (1904) *''El húsar de la guardia'' (1904) *''El arte de ser bonita'' (1905) *''La gatita blanca'' (1906) *''Juegos malabares'' (1909) *''Colomba'' (1910) *''La generala'' (1912) *''El carro del sol'' (1911) *''Maruxa'' (1914) *''La balada de Carnaval'' (1919) *'' Doña Francisquita'' (1923) *''La villana'' (1927) *''Talismán'' (1932)


References


Sources

*Webber, Christopher: ''The Zarzuela Companion''. London, Scarecrow Press, 2003 ''Foreword by
Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
'' *Christopher Webber
Amadeo Vives
on zarzuela.net


Bibliography

* Regidor Arribas, R.; Granados, V. Articles contiguts al ''Programa de la representació de Doña Francisquita'' al Teatro de la Zarzuela de Madrid. 1998 * Hernández Girbal, F. ''Amadeo Vives. El músico y el hombre''. Madrid: Ediciones Lira, 1971. * Lladó i Figueres, Josep M. ''Amadeu Vives (1871-1932)''. Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, 1988. (Biblioteca Serra d'Or). . * Marco, Tomás. ''Historia de la música española. Siglo XX''. Madrid: Alianza, 1983. * Mendoza, Cristina. ''Ramon Casas, Retrats al carbó''. Sabadell: Editorial AUSA, 1995. 282 p. * Sagardía, Angel. ''Vives''. Barcelona: Edicions de Nou Art Thor, DL 1982. (Gent Nostra; 20).


External links

*
Personal papers of Amadeu Vives in Biblioteca de Catalunya
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vives, Amadeo 1871 births 1932 deaths 19th-century Spanish classical composers 19th-century Spanish male musicians 20th-century Spanish classical composers 20th-century male composers 20th-century Spanish male musicians Burials at Montjuïc Cemetery Composers from Catalonia Spanish male opera composers Opera composers from Catalonia People from Baix Llobregat Spanish opera composers Spanish Romantic composers