Pablo Sorozábal Mariezcurrena (18 September 1897 – 26 December 1988) was a
Spanish
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* 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 ...
composer of
zarzuelas,
operas, symphonic works, and the popular ''romanza'', "
No puede ser".
He was born in
San Sebastián, in a working-class family. Trained in San Sebastián,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
and
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
; then in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, where he preferred
Friedrich Koch as composition teacher to
Arnold Schönberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
, whose theories he disliked. It was in Germany that he made his conducting debut, and the rostrum remained at the centre of his working life. His Leipzig concert works include the choral ''Suite vasca'' (1923); ''Dos apuntes Vascos'' (1925) and ''Symphonic Variations on a Basque Theme'' (1927); of later works the funeral march ''Gernika'' for chorus and orchestra (1966) is outstanding. The ''Siete Lieder'', 1929 settings of
Heinrich Heine for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, are perhaps the finest works he produced in Germany. Two short but powerful compositions for chorus and orchestra, ''Maite'' (‘Our Lady’, from the 1946 film ''Jai-Alai'') and ''¡Ay, tierra vasca!'' (1956) retain their place in the hearts of his Basque countrymen.
''Katiuska'' (1931) was his stage debut, and the twenty or so
zarzuelas which followed combine lyric fire and inimitable orchestration with an unfailing sense of theatre. Best-loved are his classic ''madrileño'' comedy ''La del manojo de rosas'' (1934) and the “nautical romance” set on the Atlantic Coast ''
La tabernera del puerto'' of 1936. The latter includes the ''romanza'' "No puede ser", made internationally popular when sung in the ''
Three Tenors'' concerts by
Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...
. His one-act
verismo
In opera, ''verismo'' (, from , meaning "true") was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini.
''Verismo'' as an ...
opera ''Adiós a la bohemia'' (from a short story by
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi (28 December 1872 – 30 October 1956) was a Spanish writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family. His brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew ...
) also retains its popularity in Spain.
Sorozábal’s liberal sympathies left him somewhat isolated after the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
, and many of his later zarzuelas were first seen outside the capital or in less prestigious Madrid theatres. They include the ambitious, allegorical romance ''Black, el payaso'' (1942) and the ski-sports musical ''Don Manolito'' (1943), both of which starred popular Basque soprano
Pepita Embil.
Sorozábal also wrote scores for non-musical films, notably the classic Spanish film ''
Marcelino Pan y Vino'' (1955).
His tenure as director of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra ended abruptly in 1952 when he was refused permission to conduct
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
’s
Leningrad Symphony; and though his musical comedy ''Las de Caín'' was premiered at the
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 Jerónimo ...
in 1958, the opera ''Juan José'' had to wait for its belated (and highly successful) concert premiere until February 2009, after a full production was suspended during rehearsals in Madrid during 1979. With his death in Madrid on 26 December 1988 the last chapter in the creative history of the romantic zarzuela came to an end. Sorozábal’s theatrical vitality, musical wit and dramatic force are second to none in the history of
zarzuela and rival the best of his German and Italian music theatre contemporaries, such as
Kurt Weill.
[The Zarzuela Companion, Christopher Webber (Scarecrow Press Maryland 2002) (p.232)]
References
Sources
''extract from Christopher Webber's biography on '' zarzuela.net '' with permission''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorozabal, Pablo
1897 births
1988 deaths
20th-century classical composers
20th-century conductors (music)
20th-century Spanish composers
20th-century Spanish male musicians
Basque classical composers
Basque opera composers
Male conductors (music)
Male opera composers
People from San Sebastián
Spanish classical composers
Spanish conductors (music)
Spanish male classical composers
Spanish opera composers