Catalonia

The most prominent Maestro de capilla (1696-1740) was Francisco Valls. He was born in Barcelona in 1665 and died here in 1747. His Missa Scala Aretina (= ‘on the hexachord‘) from 1702 arose a great controversy among his colleagues because of its daring harmonies. After 1740 he wrote the treatise Mapa armonico, a plea in favour of a Spanish national style as opposed to the Italian or French one.

Built in 1779, opera theatre until 1847, then variety shows and from 1930 movies. Recently restored. At the Rambla nr. 4-6 another theatre, the Poliorama.

The main opera theatre, built on the location of an old convent. It was opened in 1847 and from the beginning the domain of the upper class, that preferred Italian opera. Several times damaged by fire (1861, 1894) and by anarchistic disturbance (1893), but in each case restored. www.liceubarcelona.cat

Built 1904-8, designed by Lluís Domanèch I Montaner and opulently decorated in art nouveau style. Being initially intended for the choir society Orfeó Català, it became a general concert hall, in spite of the imperfect acoustics. The seven years old Alícia de la Rocha made her debut here. Still headquarters of Orféo Català. To be visited before a concert or on a guided tour. www.palaumusica.cat

Annex to the new concert hall L‘Auditori (1999) are the music school ESMuC and the Museu de la Música. The fine collection of instruments, formerly exhibited in a city palace, is tastefully displayed; lectures and performances take place regularly. A ‘gallery of Catalan musicians‘ informs about masters of Catalan music from the period 1880-1950. www.auditori.cat www.esmuc.cat www.museumusica.cat

This café was established in 1897 by Pere Romeu, a former employee of Le chat noir in Paris. It became a favorite meeting point for artists, including Albeniz and Granados (and Picasso).

This conservatory was established in 1837 as Liceo Filarmónico Dramático Barcelonés and was linked to the Liceo theatre in 1847, but afterwards administratively separated. Famous alumni include Federico Mompou and the singers Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras. New building. www.conservatoriliceu.es

This second conservatory was established in 1886 by the Banda Municipal; the present building is from 1928. Since 2001 the word ‘superior‘ on the plaque does not correspond to its present name. www.cmmb.cat

Monument (1888) of José Anselmo Clavé (1824-74). Pioneer in collecting Catalonian folk songs and himself composer of songs, cançó popular. As a nationalist and proto-socialist he founded workers‘ choirs and so he inspired Casals to establish an Associació Obrera de Concerts in 1928.

House of Enrique Granados. He lived in Barcelona from 1889 until the year of his death, 1916, where he died on sea after the successful première of Goyescas in New York; his ship was torpedoed by a German submarine.

Birthplace of the composer Frederic Mompou i Dencausse, °1893. He is known for his subtle and intimate piano pieces and songs, in some aspects resembling those by Erik Satie.

In this house Frederic Mompou died in 1987. His widow Carme Bravo established a Mompou Foundation in 2006, the plaque was unveiled in 2014. www.fundaciomompou.cat

Graves of Isaac Albeniz, †1909, and Frederic Mompou, †1987.

Grave of the composer Xavier Montsalvatge, †2002. The grave of Felip(e) Pedrell, †1922, was cleared away in 1990 - the rent was paid no longer - and his remains landed in the Ossura comuna. A disgrace, was not Pedrell a great musicologist, an advocate of ‘Spanishness’ in music and the teacher of Albeniz and Granados? His native town Tortosa failed likewise (> 8621).

A park was laid out in honor of the composer Xavier Montsalvatge. His works were successively influenced by Schönberg, Caribbean music and the French Les Six.

Arnold Schönberg lived here for the benefit of his health from the beginning of  October 1931 until the end of June 1932. The house is on a slope, starting from the corner of Carrer de Verdi and Carrer d’ Arnold Schönberg. It was built in 1930 by the modernist architect Salvador Valari i Pupurall; (Schönberg had a copy built in Los Angeles, his last residence !). In May, his daughter Nuria was born, the later wife of the composer Luigi Nono. The composer worked at his opera Moses und Aaron, participated in the musical life of Barcelona and had friendly contact with his pupil, the Catalan composer Robert(o) Gerhard, and with the cellist Pablo Casals.

The singers and instrumentalists of the escolania , est. in the 12^th century, cared for a high standard of music, especially during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Antonio Soler was a member from 1736 until 1750 and the guitarist and composer Fernando Sor, °1778 in Barcelona, was a chorister from 1790 until 1796. The composer Joan Cererols, °1618 in nearby Martorell, lived from boyhood in the monastery and, being a monk since 1636, was responsible for the church music; his death in 1676 is yearly commemorated. (Grave?) In 1811 the monastery was destructed by Napoleon‘s troops. After 1850 convent and escolania recovered. There is a rich musical archive of 15000 items, including the famous Llibre Vermell (14^th c.).

In this museum a room is devoted to the national dance of Catalonia, the Sardana and the typical orchestra to accompany the dance, the cobla with its shrill tiplas i tenores.

Birthplace of the composer Xavier Montsalvatge i Bassols, °1912. His works were successively influenced by Schönberg, Caribbean music and the French Les Six.

Wall painting in honor of the composer Xavier Montsalvatge, born in Gerona.

Birthplace of Isaac Albeniz, °1860; in 1869 the family moved to Madrid. The house is well restored and accessible to the public; interesting Albeniz museum.

Monument of Isaac Albeniz. Since 1985 there is a yearly Albeniz festival.

Antonio Soler was born in Olot in 1729. He was a member of the escolania of Montserrat and entered the convent of the Escorial in 1752, where he died in 1783. He is best known as the composer of 120 keyboard sonatas, including the monumental Fandango, but he himself considered his sacred music and his work as a music theorist more important. His birthplace is not extant. Instead of a monument, a portrait of him is in the town hall.

Birthplace of Enric (Enrique) Granados, °1867. Two plaques, one Spanish, one from the government of Paraguay. Granados never visited Paraguay, but there seems to be a link between Lérida and the sanctuary of the Virgin of Caacupé in Paraguay; perhaps that is the clue.

Monument of Granados. It is possible that it will be removed or already has been removed. Historical photo.

The local modern concert hall bears the name of Granados. A monument of the composer is planned here, to be erected in 2017 - on his 150^th birthday.

Monument of the pianist Ricardo Viñez, born in Lérida in 1875. He was the favorite pianist of Debussy and Ravel and also befriended to Albeniz and Granados; the latter shared a room with him during his study in Paris, 1887-9. Falla‘s Noches en los Jardines de España was dedicated to Viñes.

Birthplace of the famous cellist Pau Casals (Pablo Carlos Salvador Casals y Defillo), °1876. Around the corner (Plaça Nova) there is a monument (fountain) of Pau Casals.

Grave of Pau Casals, 1973 in Puerto Rico, the native country of his mother, where he temporarily lived since 1956. His remains were brought to Vendrell in 1979.

Casals lived in this princely villa, together with his mother and his brother‘s family, from 1909 until 1936; it stayed his property until 1939, when he left the country after the assumption of power by Franco - once and for all. The villa, the annexes and the gardens form the present Casals museum.

www.paucasals.org Opposite a concert hall and another monument.

The composer, musicologist and teacher Felip Pedrell was born in Tortosa in 1841. The local theatre is named after him. His birthplace, Carrer del Repia 16, was demolished, his plaque at the Avenguda de Felip Pedrell has become totally illegible (photo). Of plans to erect a funeral monument after the clearing away of his grave in Barcelona came nothing (> 8122).

Manuel de Falla spent some time in this house in 1933 and ‘34, escaping the noise of Granada. Recently the house threatened to be demolished on behalf of city development and soon protests came from many sides. The house still stands (autumn 2016) but photo 2 is ominous

At 8 November 1838 Frédéric Chopin, his mistress Georges Sand and her two children arrived in Mallorca. The first weeks their address was Sol y Vent (So ‘n Vent) in Establiments, near Palma (the house is not extant). When Chopin‘s illness aroused suspicion among the local people, they took refuge in the deserted convent of Valldemossa, the present Chopin museum. The pretended authenticity of the exhibits is doubtful, but the site is anyhow interesting. In Mallorca the Preludes op. 24 were finished, but the hope of recuperation proved to be idle; due to the primitive accommodation and the bad weather the composer‘s health even failed. They left Mallorca on 8 February 1839 disillusioned and returned home via Arenys-de-Mar and Marseille.