Felip Pedrell Sabaté (Spanish: Felipe) (19 February 1841 – 19 August 1922) was a Catalan composer, guitarist and musicologist.

Life

Pedrell was born in

Tortosa Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hi ...

(

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

), 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 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 ...

where he co-directed a

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 ...

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 Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

) and the

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

''Excelsior'' (1880). In February 1880, he settled in Barcelona as a music teacher and composer, where he made the acquaintance of

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 ...

and

Enrique Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or ''Enric Granados'' in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Cat ...

who became his first pupils. Other notable pupils included the composers Rosa García Ascot,

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 ...

, and Joan Lamote de Grignon. After another performance of ''L'último Abenzeraggio'' in 1889, Pedrell seriously considered the founding of an "escuela nacional de música" (national school of music), combining elements of Spanish traditional music with the classical art music of his time. The first result was the opera '' Els Pirineus'' (1891), underlining his concept theoretically with the publication ''Por nuestra música'' (To Our Music; 1891),Bonastre (2005), as above. which made many composers and guitarists of his time aware of Spanish folklore. Influences were visible in

Roberto Gerhard 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.Malcolm MacDonald. 'Gerhard, Roberto' ...

's eight Pedrell-derived folk-tunes (''Cancionero de Pedrell''), and

's "Pedrelliana" – the last of his four ''Homenajes'' ("homages") (1939). Between 1891 and 1904, Pedrell lived in Madrid, where he became a member of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

in 1895 and had a professorship in musical aesthetics and music history at the Real Conservatorio. In 1894, the first volume of his ''Hispaniae schola musica sacra'' appeared, a series of edited scores of renaissance and baroque church music from Spain. As a musicologist, Pedrell worked particularly in the

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

field and edited Victoria's ''opera omnia'' and the requiem of Joan Brudieu. This and other of his writings fostered a keen interest in the early music of Spain. He returned to Barcelona in 1904, when his opera ''Els Pirineus'' was eventually performed. When his daughter died in 1912, Pedrell fully withdrew from public life. His last pupils, the musicologist Higinio Anglès and the composer Roberto Gerhard, assisted Pedrell in his last publications and compositions. He died in

and was buried in the Sant Gervasi Cemetery. The composer Carlos Pedrell (1878–1941) is his nephew. The personal papers of Felip Pedrell 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 ...

. Among his main direct disciples are

, Cristòfor Taltabull, Pedro Blanco, Joaquín Turina and

Works

Operas *''L'último Abenzeraggio'' (in Italian; Spanish title: ''El último abencerraje'') (libretto: J. B. Altés), opera in 4 acts (1868, revised 1874 and 1889) *''Quasimodo'' (libretto: J. Barrer, after

), opera in 4 acts (1875) *''Els Pirineus'' (libretto: Victor Balaguer), opera in a prologise and 3 acts (1891) *''La Celestina'' (libretto: Pedrell, after

Fernando de Rojas Fernando de Rojas (c. 1465/73, in La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo, Spain – April 1541, in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Spain) was a Spanish author and dramatist, known for his only surviving work, '' La Celestina'' (originally titled ''Trag ...

), opera in 4 acts (1902) *''El comte Arnau'' (libretto:

Joan Maragall Joan Maragall i Gorina (; 10 October 1860 – 20 December 1911) was a Catalan poet, journalist and translator, the foremost member of the movement in literature. His manuscripts are preserved in the Joan Maragall Archive of Barcelona. Li ...

), "festival lirich popular" (1904) *five other operas and eight

s Instrumental works *''Nocturnos-trío'' (1873) *''La veu de les muntanyes'' (1877), symphonic poem *''Excelsior'' (1880), symphonic poem *many works for piano and guitar Songs for voice and piano *''Noches de España'' (1871) *''Orientales'' (

) (1876) *''Consolations'' (

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

) (1876) *''La primavera'' (F. Matheu) (1880) *''Canciones arabescas'' (1906) Choral music *56 sacred songs in Latin *27 works in colloquial Spanish or Catalan *18 works for chorus and orchestra

References

*
More information with scores and music

External links

*
Personal papers of Felip Pedrell in the Biblioteca de Catalunya
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedrell, Felipe 1841 births 1922 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Spanish composers 19th-century Spanish male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Spanish composers 20th-century male composers 20th-century Spanish male musicians Classical composers from Catalonia Composers for the classical guitar Male opera composers Opera composers from Catalonia People from Tortosa Spanish classical composers Spanish male classical composers Spanish opera composers Spanish Romantic composers