Manuel Palau Boix (4 January 1893 – 18 February 1967) was a Spanish composer and teacher in Valencia Conservatory. He wrote a large number of symphonic, band (wind orchestra), choral and chamber works. He was one of the most popular and important composers of his time. He received the Spanish National Music Award (Premio Nacional de Música) twice, first in 1927 and again in 1945. His music is known within the Spanish classical music for being a representative of what it has been called “Mediterranean” style, like other Spanish musicians such as
Vicente Asencio or
Oscar Esplá.
The cities of
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
,
Alfara del Patriarca
Alfara del Patriarca is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Horta Nord in the Valencian Community, Spain.
Geography
The municipal area of 2 km² is located in the Horta of Valencia. The natural disaster are rare because the land is almost fla ...
,
Llíria
Llíria (; es, Liria) is a medium-sized town off the CV35 motorway to the north of Valencia, Spain. Known as ''Edeta'' in ancient Iberian times, it is the musical capital of the region. On October 30, 2019, Llíria was declared a Creative City ...
,
Alaquàs
Alaquàs (; es, Alacuás) is a municipality in the Horta Oest ''comarca'' in the Valencian Community.
Etymology
The town's name is of Arabic origin, coming from ''al-aquas'' (الأقواس), meaning "the arches", believed to be a reference to ...
and
Xirivella
Xirivella () is a municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It borders the city of Valencia, Alaquàs, Picanya and Mislata. The municipality is divided by the V-30 motorway and the river Turia, with the La Luz district on the eastern par ...
named streets after him. There is a Spanish choir called Manuel Palau in his honor.
Biography
Palau lived some of the sweetest and most bitter moments of art in Spain. He had the good fortune to be a contemporary of a large number of artists (painters, poets, musicians) and scientists who had achieved international significance. However, he also had the misfortune of living through the horrendous events of the military insurrection against the legitimate government of the country and suffered the post-war horrors that severely impeded artistic production. But the Valencian musician composed until the end of his days, motivated by the satisfaction that his own creative activity gave him.
Born in
Alfara del Patriarca
Alfara del Patriarca is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Horta Nord in the Valencian Community, Spain.
Geography
The municipal area of 2 km² is located in the Horta of Valencia. The natural disaster are rare because the land is almost fla ...
(
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
) on 4 January 1893, he started his musical education at the Conservatory of Music in Valencia. He studied composition with
Charles Koechlin and
Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
and many of his compositions are influenced by the
impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
.
In 1927 and 1945 he won the Premio Nacional de Música (Spanish National Music Award).
He was a teacher in the Conservatory of Valencia and became principal in 1951. Among his students there are international musicians such the conductor
Manuel Galduf
Manuel Galduf (born 1942 in Llíria), is a Spanish Orchestra conductor.
Career
Galduf studied at the Valencia Conservatory of Music (Orchestra musical direction, composition, violin, piano and oboe), having among his teachers Valencian composer ...
, the professor Salvador Seguí, etc.
Manuel Palau Boix died in Valencia on 18 February 1967.
Style
Palau looked into the French musical mirror, where he found some of his more important musical influences. The artistic currents that coexisted at that moment influenced his music to a greater or lesser degree. An review of some of those styles, Palau’s sources of inspiration, bring us closer to the European musical environment of that time. But, without doubt, one of the elements that marked his music in a definite way, was to be Valencian
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
. Originally from a small village in the Valencian countryside (Alfara del Patriarca), the music that he heard sung at parties, weddings, etc., were to become his constant inspiration. Sometimes, he recreates a given popular themes, other times he invented melodies himself in the style of folk music, giving his compositions a peculiarity that differentiates his music from other Spanish music of the time (that often looked to the South of
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 ...
for its inspiration) that had become popular towards the end of the 19th century.
Manuel Palau looks for the Valencian’s colour: at a time in which Andalusian regionalism was dominant, the maestro sought inspiration in his own cultural roots.
Recordings
Orchestras as the ONE (National Orchestra of Spain), ORTVE (Spanish Radio TV Orchestra) Joven Orquesta de la Generalitat Valenciana, have recorded his music, including soloists such
Narciso Yepes
Narciso Yepes (14 November 19273 May 1997) was a Spanish guitarist. He is considered one of the finest virtuoso classical guitarists of the twentieth century.
Biography
Yepes was born into a family of humble origin in Lorca, Region of Murcia. ...
, Bertomeu Jaume,
Rafael Serrallet
Rafael Serrallet (born in Valencia, Spain on July 14, 1971) is a Spanish classical guitarist.
Career
Rafael Serrallet was born in Valencia and started playing the guitar at the age of 12.
Rafael studied with Andres Segovia’s pupil and assist ...
and
Manuel Galduf
Manuel Galduf (born 1942 in Llíria), is a Spanish Orchestra conductor.
Career
Galduf studied at the Valencia Conservatory of Music (Orchestra musical direction, composition, violin, piano and oboe), having among his teachers Valencian composer ...
, etc.
Legacy
In 2013 Palau’s heirs donated their musical material to the Valencian Library and IVM (Valencian Musical Institute). 3.069 books and scores from his personal library, 196 recordings, 109 publications, and 1.242 documents from his personal archive (840 manuscripts of his works).
Works
Despite his prolific musical production, Manuel Palau is relatively unknown in the music world. Palau left a very interesting collection of music, including
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
works and, additionally, he wrote a substantial concerto that is almost forgotten today and has been barely performed since his composition.
Manuel Palau wrote more than hundred Lieder, one guitar
concerto (Concert of Valencia or Concierto Levantino), two piano concerti, three symphonies, choral music,
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
, the
opera
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 libr ...
Maror.
Here a list of works.
Orchestra
1919 Coplas de mi tierra (There is also a wind orchestra version)
1920 Escenes i paisatges valencians
Adagietto
Dansa
1921 Tres danses valencianes
Dansa dels xiquets
Dansa de la colla antiga
Dansa de la colla muntanyenca
1924 Danza morisca
1924 Tres impresiones orquestales
Andantino
Non tropo lento
Alla marcia
1927 Siluetes - Suite (There is also a wind orchestra version)
Dolçainers
Llauradors
...i els xiquet passen
1928 Gongoriana (There is also a wind orchestra version)
Noel
Celosa está la niña
Humoresca
Ecaristica
En el baile del agido
Glorioso parta Don Juan
1929 Cançó de bressol (Lullaby) for voice and string orchestra
1929 Homenaje a Debussy
1930 Muntanyesa
1932 Four preludes for string orchestra
1933 Obertura española
1934 El ball de la falla for voice and orchestra
1935 La copla del inclusero for choir and orchestra
1935 Poemes de llum
Crepuscular
Nocturnal
Matinada
1935 València per a piano i orquestra
1936 Marxa burlesca (originally composed for the Valencian saxophones ensemble "Filarmonia")
1936 Documental valenciana
Allegro non tanto
Andante
Vivo
1937 Divertimento
Obertura
Siciliana
Rigodón
Pavana
Giga
1938 O quam suavis for baritone, male choir and string orchestra
1939/1949 Mascarada sarcástica
1940 Simfonia núm 1 in e-mino
Allegro deciso
Largo. Andante cantabile
Animato. Scherzo
Allegro. Finale
1942 Salve for choir and orchestra
1944 Simfonia núm. 2 en re major - Murciana
Largo. Allegro energico
Lento. Tiempo de parranda. Lentamente
Presto
Allegro giocoso
1946 Dramatic Concerto for piano and orchestra
Lento. Allegro non tanto
Lentamente
Allegro deciso
1947/1959 Concert of Valencia (Concierto Levantino) for guitar and orchestra
Allegro non tanto. Allegro deciso
Larghetto. Animado. Larghetto
Presto
1950 Simfonia number 3
1950 Salmantinas for female choir and orchestra.
1951/1955 Escena y danza de Omar
1953 Two aquarelles for string orchestra
1956 Tríptico catedralicio (There is also a wind orchestra version)
1963 Heráldica
Anthem for nuevo al Santísimo Cristo Verdadero for choir and orchestra.
Criatura dolcíssima for voice and orchestra. Texts by Joan Fuster
Suite in old stile
Wind orchestra (Banda de música)
1920 Himne a la bandera for choir and wind orchestra.
1921 Marxa valenciana n. 2
1922 Himne a Bétera for choir and wind orchestra.
1922 La cançó del poble
1923 Marxa valenciana n. 4
1923 Pasodoble andaluz
1924 Penya truquera
1924 ¡Vaya lo fino!
1924 Danza mora
1925 Soc de Moncà
1925 Poemas de juventud
1929 Marcha n. 13
1930 Cançó de renaixença for choir and banda.
1936 Two school songs for children's choir and wind orchestra.
1946 Manises Anthem
1947 Blayo
1956 Marcha solemne
1961 Riberas del Jiloca
1961 Rumores del Genil
Himne escolar for choir and wind orchestra
Theatre
1917 Farandulerías
1918 Beniflors, Valencian zarzuela in one act
1920 Amor torna, Dramatic Valencian zarzuela in 2 acts
1922 A vora mar Valencian zarzuela in one act
1938 Lliri blau Ballet in two acts
1938 Sino Ballet in one act
1946 Joyel Ballet
1956 Maror, opera. Text de Xavier Casp
Choir
1941 Aclamaciones for male choir
1947 Hermosita, hermosita
1950 Two songs from Alicante
1951 Cançó innocent de Blanca Fe
1952 Dos líricas de Anacreonte for male choir
1952 Scherzino for female choir
1956 Bienaventurados
1958 Lletania en flor for female and children's choir
1958 Sega, segador
1959 Cançó d'hivern
1960 Four coral poems
1963 Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
1963 Quatre petites composicions
1965 La Santa Cena
1967 Cançoneta del balcó for female choir
Cançons humorístiques
More works
1918 Gozos al Patriarca San José for choir and organ
1918 Rosario for choir and organ
1942 Nupcias for organ
1944 Himno al Apostolado de la Oración for choir and organ
1944/1960 M in g-minor for soloists, choir and orchestra
1945 Atardecer for soloists, choir and orchestra
1945 Ave María for tenor, choir and orchestra
1946 Deus Israel conjugat Vos for children's choir and orchestra
1954 Anthem a Sant Vicent Ferrer for choir and organ
1955 Anthem for Coronació del Sant Crist de la Fe for choir and organ
1956 Credo for choir and organ
1956 Himno a la Santísima Virgen de la Fuensanta for choir and organ
1956 Himno de María Santísima de Araceli for choir and organ
1959 Cants de primavera for soprano, female choir and orchestra
1961 Cantarella for children's choir and organ
1961 Justus germinabit for choir and organ
1965 Balada a l'absent for soprano, female choir and orchestra
1965 Canción amatoria for female choir and orchestra
1965 Cançons de la llar for female choir and orchestra
1965 Cançons del folklore infantívol for female choir and orchestra
1965 Rapsòdia d'abril for soprano, female choir and orchestra
1965 Seguerilles for female choir and orchestra
1965 Vibración de estío for female choir and orchestra
Fughetta per a conjunt de saxòfons
Anthem to The Purísima for choir and organ
Anthem to Virgen de las Angustias for choir and organ
References
External links
Manuel Palau i Boix Archive (Biblioteca Valenciana)Summary of the thesis: Manuel Palau and the guitar. The irresistible call of music. Biography (in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palau, Manuel
Spanish classical composers
20th-century classical composers
Spanish male classical composers
People from Horta Nord
Composers from the Valencian Community
1893 births
1967 deaths
20th-century Spanish musicians
20th-century Spanish male musicians