Óscar Esplá y Triay (5 August 1886 – 6 January 1976) was a Spanish composer. The Conservatorio Superior de Música ( conservatory) of the city of

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

is dedicated to him. The ''Premio internacional de composición Óscar Esplá'' (Óscar Esplá international prize for composition) was created in 1955 and is awarded by the city of Alicante.

Life

Óscar Esplá was born on 5 August 1886 in Alicante, in the

Kingdom of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. His early musical studies were with his father, Trino Esplá, and with Fernando Lloret and . In 1903 he went to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

to study

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

, but later changed to study philosophy. He studied composition with Francisco Sánchez Gavagnac. In 1911, after winning an international prize, he went to Austria and Germany; he met

Ferdinand Löwe Ferdinand Löwe (19 February 1865 – 6 January 1925) was an Austrian conductor. Biography Löwe was born in Vienna, Austrian Empire where along with Munich, Germany his career was primarily centered. From 1896 Löwe conducted the Kaim Orches ...

in Vienna, and

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

. In 1912–13 he was in Paris; he met Saint-Saëns, but there is no evidence that he studied with him. In 1936 Esplá was appointed director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación in Madrid, but did not take up the position. Instead, because of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he left Spain and went with his family to Belgium, where he worked for ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, ) is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Émile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. Together with '' La Libre Belgique'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newsp ...

'', which at that time was under Nazi control. He was not permitted to return to Spain until 1950. With

Roberto Gerhard Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder (; 25 September 1896 – 5 January 1970) was a Spanish and British composer, musical scholar, and writer, generally known outside his native region of Catalonia as Roberto Gerhard.Malcolm MacDonald. 'Gerhard, Roberto' ...

Frederic Mompou Frederic Mompou Dencausse (), or Federico Mompou (16 April 1893 – 30 June 1987), was a Spanish composer and pianist. Life Early years Mompou was born in Barcelona to the lawyer Frederic Mompou and his wife, Josefina Dencausse, who was of ...

and Adolfo Salazar, he was a part of the Spanish Grupo de los cuatro. He died in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 6 January 1976, and was buried in the church of the in Alicante.

Honours

Esplá was elected to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

de Paris on 9 May 1956. In 1959 he received the Grand Cross of the

Orden de Alfonso X el Sabio The Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise () is a Spanish civil order established in 1939, recognising activities in the fields of education, science, culture, higher education and research. The order was created on 23 May 1902 by Royal decree as t ...

. He was elected an honorary member of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

in 1965.

Works

*''El sueño de Eros'' (1910),

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

*''Suite levantina'' (1911) *''La nochebuena del diablo'' (1923),

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

*''Don Quijote velando las armas'' (1924), symphonic poem *''Himno republicano'' (1931), which contributed to the official version of the

Himno de Riego The "Himno de Riego" ("Anthem of Riego") is a song dating from the ''Trienio Liberal'' (1820–1823) of Spain and named in honour of Colonel Rafael del Riego, a figure in the respective uprising, which restored the liberal constitution of 1812. ...

under the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

(1931–1939) *''Tres Canciones'' (1952) *''Sinfonía Aitana'' (1964) *''Tres Movimientos para piano'' *''Sonata Española para piano'' *''Crespusculum op. 15 para piano''

Notes

References

External links

Conservatorio Superior de Música Óscar Esplá de Alicante
1886 births 1976 deaths Spanish male classical composers Musicians from Alicante 20th-century Spanish classical composers 20th-century male composers 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish male musicians {{Spain-composer-stub