Manuel Valls i Gorina (; 21 July 1920 – 1984) 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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

composer,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mu ...

, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

. Valls was born in

Badalona Badalona (, , , ) is a municipality to the immediate north east of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By population, it is the third ...

. He was a first cousin of painter Xavier Valls, himself the father of former French Prime Minister

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (, , ; born 13 August 1962) is a French-Spanish politician who has served as a Barcelona city councillor from 2019 to 2021. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president François Hol ...

. He studied at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

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 Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

, and

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", or ...

. He became a successful composer writing symphonic works,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

choral music A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

, art songs, and songs for solo

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

. For many years he taught composition at the University of Barcelona and wrote music reviews for ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El ...

''.. He died in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ...

. 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 Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

.FC Barcelona webpage
, accessed on 2009-10-16.

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, Món, Nit'' (SATB chorus) *''Primera historia de Esther'' (1955 opera) *''CAL 33-33, o El bon samaritá'' (1967 opera)

References

Sources

*''Música de tota mena''. Barcelona, ed. Clivis, 1982. .

External links

Personal papers of Manuel Valls i Gorina in the Biblioteca de Catalunya

1920 births 1984 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish male musicians Composers from Catalonia Opera composers from Catalonia Male opera composers Spanish classical composers Spanish male classical composers Spanish opera composers Spanish music critics Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu alumni University of Barcelona alumni {{Spain-composer-stub