María Rodrigo (20 March 1888 – 8 December 1967) 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 ...

pianist and composer. She was the daughter of Pantaléon Rodrigo, and studied music at the

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 ...

Conservatorium under

José Tragó José Tragó y Arana (Madrid, 1856–1934) was a Spanish pianist and composer. He was a student of Albéniz.Walter Aaron Clark - Enrique Granados:Poet of the Piano 2005 - Page 55 "... professors and two professors of composition: Pilar Fernánde ...

for piano, Valentín Arín for harmony and Emilio Serrano for composition. Maria was the first woman to have her opera performed in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. 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 Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, moved in 1939 to Bogota, Colombia, at the invitation of rector Agustín Nieto Caballero, and in 1950 to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

at the invitation of

José María García Madrid José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

. With

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. She died in

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 composition with Emilio Serrano. As a child prodigy, at the age of 14 she had already received scholarships to further her studies in

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Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. She ended up going to the city of

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with the scholarship granted by the Board of Extension of Studies. Maria later served occasionally as a professor at the Royal Conservatory, until 1936, when the

began. In 1933 she was appointed to the chair of vocal and instrumental ensembles at the

Madrid Conservatory The Madrid Royal Conservatory () is a music college in Madrid, Spain. History The Royal Conservatory of Music was founded on July 15, 1830, by royal decree, and was originally located in Mostenses Square, Madrid. In 1852 it was moved to the Roy ...

Career and later life

Unable to accept

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

, Maria and her sister fled the country in the spring of 1939 before the fall of Madrid, taking her scores with her in a trunk. Unfortunately, the trunk containing all her music was lost en route to

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. The rest of her life was spent as a music teacher: first in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

until a local conflict there, then in

where she spent the last 17 years of her life alongside other Spanish exiles such as

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Francisco Ayala.

Music

As a composer, Maria Rodrigo cultivated every genre, from vocal music (operas, zarzuelas and songs) to instrumental (symphonic, chamber, piano), and was the first woman to premiere an opera in Spain. She wrote several quintets for piano and wind instruments, as well as symphonic music such as the Rimas infantiles suite which was frequently performed in various concert programs in Madrid. German musical education is manifested throughout her works, as well as Wagnerian influence.

Works

* Sonata en mi bemol para piano / ''Piano Sonata in Eb'' (1911) * Obertura para orquesta / ''Overture for Orchestra'' (1912) * Cuarteto de cuerda, en cuatro tiempos / ''String Quartet in Four Movements'' (1913) * Cuarteto para instrumentos de arco / ''Quartet for Bowed String Instruments'' (1913) * Mudarra para gran orquesta (poema sinfónico) / ''Mudarra for Orchestra (Symphonic poem)'' (1914) * Sinfonía en 4 tiempos / ''Symphony in 4 movements'' (1914) * Tres ''lieder'' para voz y piano (canciones con texto en alemán) / ''Three Lieder for voice and piano'' (1914) * Salmantina (ópera) / ''Salmantina'' ''(Opera)'' (1914) * Quinteto en fa para piano e instrumentos de viento / ''Quintet in F for Piano and winds'' (1915) * Becqueriana (zarzuela, estrenada en el

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 ...

) (1915) * ''Diana cazadora o Pena de muerte al amor'' (zarzuela, estrenada en el Teatro Apolo el 19 de noviembre) / ''Diana the Hunter, or Death Penalty for Love (Zarzuela, premiered at Teatro Apolo on November 19th)'' (1915) * Alma española (poema sinfónico) / ''Alma Española/Spanish Soul (Symphonic Poem)'' (1917) * Las hazañas de un pícaro (sainete, estrenado en el Teatro Apolo) / ''Las Hazañas de un Picaro/The Amazing Deeds of a Rascal, sainete, premiered at Teatro Apolo (1920)'' *''Linterna mágica / Magic Lantern'' (1921) * El pavo real (comedia poética, estrenada en el Teatro Eslava) / ''The Indian Peafowl (poetic comedy, premiered at Teatro Eslava)'' (1922) * Coplas de España (para guitarra), cuatro coplas dedicadas

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

/ ''Coplas of Spain (for guitar), 4 coplas dedicated to Andrés Segovia'' (1924) * Ayes (canciones para canto y piano) / '' Ayes (Songs for voice and piano)'' (1925) * Canción de amor ( ópera de cámara) / ''Love Song (Chamber opera)'' (1925) * Rimas infantiles, glosas de canciones de corro / ''Nursery Rhymes, variations on circle songs'' (1930) * La Copla intrusa (para piano) / ''The Intruder Copla for piano'' (1930) * La Cenicienta (ballet infantil) / ''Cinderella (Children's ballet)'' (1941) * Canciones infantiles / ''Children's Songs'' (1942) * Fábulas / ''Fables'' (1942) * La carta, el guante y la rosa (ballet) / ''The letter, the glove and the rose (ballet)'' (1945) * La flor de la vida (ópera) / ''The flower of life'' ''(Opera)'' * La romería del Rocío (zarzuela) / '' The Pilgrimage to El Rocío'' ''(Zarzuela)'' * Los Caprichos de Goya (suite sinfónica para coro y orquesta) / ''Goya's Caprichos (Symphonic Suite for Choir and Orchestra)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigo, Maria 1888 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Spanish classical composers 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish women composers Spanish women classical composers