Xavier Montsalvatge i Bassols (; 11 March 1912 – 7 May 2002) was a Spanish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and music critic. He was one of the most influential music figures in

Catalan music The music of Catalonia comprises one of the oldest documented musical traditions in Europe. In tandem with the rest of Western Europe, it has a long musical tradition, incorporating a number of different styles and genres over the past two thousa ...

during the latter half of the 20th century.

Biography

Life

Montsalvatge was born in

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

, and studied

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

at the

Barcelona Conservatory Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. His principal teachers were Lluís Maria Millet, Enric Morera,

Jaume Pahissa Jaume Pahissa i Jo (also Jaime; October 8, 1880 – October 27, 1969, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Spanish-born composer and musicologist. From an article published in Le Figaro March 16, 1913: "We note the great success at the Liceo theater ...

, and Eduard Toldrà. 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, lin ...

, Montsalvatge began work as a music critic when he joined the weekly ''

Destino ''Destino'' is an animated short film released in 2003 by Walt Disney Animation Studios. ''Destino'' is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion in 2003. The project was originally a collab ...

'' in 1942, a publication he would eventually direct in 1968 and 1975. He wrote additionally for the daily ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

'' after 1962. Montsalvatge also returned to teach at his alma mater, becoming a lecturer in 1970, and then a professor of composition in 1978. In 1982 he served on the jury of the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition. He was awarded Spain's

Premio Nacional de Música The National Music Award ( es, Premio Nacional de Música, links=no) is one of Spain's annual National Awards by the Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Mini ...

for composition in 1985. He died in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, aged 90, and was buried at the

Sant Gervasi Cemetery Sant Gervasi Cemetery founded in 1853, is located in the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi in Barcelona, Spain. With an extension of 12,229 m², the area divided into two parts by a staircase leading to the cemetery chapel. It includes 4773 plots. N ...

Barcelona.

Work

Montsalvatge's style evolved over several different phases. At the start of his career, he was strongly influenced by the

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

and by Wagnerism, which together dominated the

scene during the period represented by his ''Sinfonía mediterránea'' of 1949. In the following period, he found inspiration in the music of the

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

(''Cinco canciones negras'', 1945; ''Cuarteto indiano'', 1952). His steady contact with the French composers

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

and

Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 he ...

led to a crucial change in his style, which soon became characterized by free

polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key ...

(''Partida'', 1958). The final phase of Montsalvatge's work revealed the influence of the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

. Montsalvatge explored virtually all

musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...

s in his composition. His work ranges in scale from

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 librett ...

s (''El gato con botas'', ''Una voz en off'') to

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

(''Cuarteto indiano''), in between which lie his

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

l works, such as the ''Desintegración morfológica de la Chacona de Bach'', the ''Laberinto o Sinfonía de réquiem'', and the prizewinning ''Sinfonía mediterránea''. He owed his international fame chiefly to one charming and outstanding work: the ''Cinco canciones negras'' for

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

and orchestra, a blend of

Antillean The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

s and themes; among them, the best known is the ''Canción de cuna para dormir un negrito'' (Lullaby to sleep a black child). He wrote

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

and in 1987, his score for the picture '' Dragon Rapide'', about

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

, was nominated as the best original music at the

Goya Award The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sci ...

Important works

*''Cinco canciones negras'' (1945) (Five black songs) *''Concerto breve'' (1953) for piano and orchestra *''Canciones Para Niños'' (1953) (Songs for Children) *''Sonatine pour Ivette'' (1962) *''Babel'' (1967) *''Homenaje a Manolo Hugué'' (1971) *''Serenata a Lydia de Cadaqués'' (1971) *''Reflexions-obertura'' (1975) *''Concert capriccio'' (1975) for

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

and orchestra *''Fantasía'' (1985) for harp and guitar *''Simfonia de Rèquiem'' (1985) *''Bric à brac'' (1993) *"Partita 1958" (1958) *"Euro fanfàrria" ;Choral works *Tres canciones negras (1946) for soprano, mixed chorus, and pianoNick Strimple Choral Music in the Twentieth Century 2005 1574673785 -Page 192 " many attractive smaller works such as Tres canciones negras (1946) for soprano, mixed chorus, and piano;" ;Operas *''El gato con botas'' *''Una voce in off'' *''Babel 46'' (opera, 2002 premiere) ;Ballet *''Perlimplinada'', music in collaboration with

Federico Mompou Frederic Mompou Dencausse (; alternatively Federico Mompou; 16 April 189330 June 1987) was a Spanish and Catalan composer and pianist. He is remembered for his solo piano music and songs. Life Early years Mompou was born in Barcelona to the ...

*''Manfred'' (1945) ;Music for cobla ensemble * ''Elegia a

Juli Garreta Juli Garreta i Arboix (12 March 1875, in Sant Feliu de Guíxols – 2 December 1925) was a Spanish composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who ...

'' (1946) * ''Madrigal en forma de sardana'' (1945)

References

External links

Commemorative website (in Catalan, Spanish, and English)Peermusic Classical: Xavier Montsalvatge
Composer's Publisher and Bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Montsalvatge, Xavier 1912 births 2002 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish male musicians Composers from Catalonia Spanish classical composers Spanish male classical composers