Enrique Jordá (March 24, 1911 – March 18, 1996) 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, Can ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

conductor. Born in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

(

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

), later on he was a naturalized US citizen. After conducting in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, he was music director of the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...

from 1954 to 1963. He made several stereophonic recordings in San Francisco for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

in 1957 and 1958. He made several highly acclaimed recordings for Decca in the late 1940s and early 1950s of Spanish music with the London Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra and Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, including two recordings of Nights in The Gardens of Spain with Clifford Curzon as soloist. Several of these have been reissued on the Dutton label. During his tenure in San Francisco he gave the world premiere of

Joaquín Rodrigo Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the ''Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical gui ...

's ''

Fantasía para un gentilhombre ''Fantasía para un gentilhombre'' (''Fantasia for a Gentleman'') is a concerto for guitar and orchestra by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. The concerto is Rodrigo's most popular work after the famous ''Concierto de Aranjuez''. The four m ...

'' with

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 students of Segovia or their students. Segovia's contribution to the m ...

as the soloist. Jorda made recordings with both the San Francisco Symphony and the Symphony of the Air, several of which have recently been reissued on CD. His third recording of ''

Nights in the Gardens of Spain ''Nights in the Gardens of Spain'' ( es, Noches en los jardines de España), G. 49, is a piece of music by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. Falla was Andalusian and the work refers to the Hispano-Arabic past of this region (Al-Andalus). ...

'' was made with the San Francisco Orchestra with

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

as soloist. His final recordings with the orchestra were for

CRI CRI or CRi may refer to: Organizations * Canadian Rivers Institute, for river sciences, University of New Brunswick * Cancer Research Institute, New York, US * Centro de Relaciones Internacionales (International Relations Center), Universidad N ...

in 1962. After he left San Francisco, he was a guest conductor in Europe, South America and Australia. He published a book on conducting, "El Director de Orquesta Ante la Partitura," in 1969, and from 1970 to 1976 was the music director of the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra (now:

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is the symphony orchestra of Flanders (Belgium), based in the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. The orchestra is led by chief conductor Elim Chan and honorary conductor Philippe Herreweghe. The organisation, which is o ...

). During the San Francisco Symphony's 1973 European tour, the musicians were reunited with Jordá for the final time. Jordá died at 84 in

Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

following a two-month illness related to a blood transfusion. His daughter Tessa, who married Sir David Brewer, has been awarded the OBE.

Notes

1911 births 1996 deaths Spanish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Spanish emigrants to the United States American male conductors (music) People from San Sebastián Basque musicians American people of Basque descent 20th-century Spanish musicians Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians Music of the San Francisco Bay Area Spanish male musicians {{US-conductor-stub