Enric R. Madriguera (17 February 1902 – 7 September 1973) was a violinist of Catalan origin who was playing concerts as a child before he studied at the

Barcelona Conservatory Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

(the Castilian form of his name is Enrique, which he sometimes used on records).

Biography

Madriguera was born 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 ...

, Spain. His sister was pianist Paquita Madriguera, the second wife of

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. Whilst still in his twenties, Madriguera was lead violinist at

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's Symphony orchestras, before becoming the conductor of the Cuban Philharmonic.
In the late 1920s, Madriguera played in

Ben Selvin Benjamin Bernard Selvin (March 5, 1898 – July 15, 1980) was an American musician, bandleader, and record producer. He was known as the Dean of Recorded Music. According to ''The Guinness Book of World Records,'' Selvin recorded more musical si ...

's studio orchestra at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

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, and served briefly as that company's director of Latin music recording. In 1932, Madriguera began his own orchestra at the

Biltmore Hotel Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a hotel chain created by the hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman. The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and the gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attra ...

, which recorded for Columbia until 1934. During this period, his music was mostly Anglo-American dance or

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a time ...

, and frequently jazz-inflected, although he had a modest hit with his

rhumba Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and ballroom dance, dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cub ...

rendition of "

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to residents of the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil and their culture. Like other Brazilians, ''Cariocas'' speak Portuguese. The ''carioca'' accent and sociolect (also simply called "''carioca''", ...

" (1934). By the 1930s, Madriguera was recording Latin American music almost exclusively; his composition "Adios" became a national hit in 1931. On his radio appearances, the band was billed as Enric Madriguera and His Music of the Americas, and "Adios" was its theme song. It was said that the ambassadors from all the South American countries declared Madriguera to be the 'Ambassador of Music to all the Americas'. Madriguera appeared in a number of "musical shorts", including ''Enric Madriguera and his Orchestra'' (1946), in which he performed a number of songs, also providing the orchestra for his vocalist and wife, Patricia Gilmore. A review of one of his appearances recorded how he "reflected the warmth of our neighbors to the south". He died in retirement in

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...

References

External links

Enric Madriguera recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

.
Enric Madriguera's discography can be searched at the National Library of Catalonia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madriguera, Enric 1902 births 1973 deaths Musicians from Catalonia Conductors (music) from Catalonia Male conductors (music) 20th-century Spanish musicians Rhumba musicians 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Spanish male musicians