Guillermo Fernández-Shaw Iturralde (26 February 1893 - 17 August 1965) was a Spanish poet and journalist. He is particularly known as a writer of

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

, primarily for

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

s. With Federico Romero, he wrote the libretti for two of the best-known zarzuelas of the 20th century, '' Doña Francisquita'' by

Amadeo Vives Amadeu Vives i Roig (; 18 November 1871 – 2 December 1932) was a Spaniard, Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for ''Doña Francisquita'', which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyrici ...

and ''

Luisa Fernanda Luisa Fernanda is a former television entertainment news anchor, radio broadcaster, theatre and soap actress, singer and model. She was born on December 17th, 1970 in Mexico City. She worked for HSE in 2001 then Telemundo until the end of 2007. ...

'' by Federico Moreno Torroba. His father, Carlos Fernández Shaw, was also a playwright, poet and journalist who wrote libretti for several zarzuelas and operas, most famously '' Margarita la tornera'' and '' La vida breve''. Guillermo Fernández-Shaw was born in

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

and initially trained as a lawyer before becoming a journalist. He was the editor of the Spanish newspaper ''La Epoca'' from 1911 to 1936, and a contributor to ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

'' as well as writing poetry for ''Blanco y Negro''.López de Zuazo Algar (1981) p. 193 His partnership with Federico Romero began in 1916 with their libretto for Serrano's ''La canción del olvido''. Guillermo Fernández-Shaw 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 17 August 1965 at the age of 72.

Libretti

Guillermo Fernández-Shaw wrote over 70 libretti in collaboration with Federico Romero,Manzanares and Webber
(2001) including: * 1916. ''La canción del olvido'' by José Serrano * 1923. '' Doña Francisquita'' by

Amadeu Vives Amadeu Vives i Roig (; 18 November 1871 – 2 December 1932) was a Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for '' Doña Francisquita'', which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyricism, flue ...

* 1923. ''El dictador'' by Rafael Millán Picazo * 1926. ''El caserío'' by Jesús Guridi * 1927. ''La villana'' by

* 1928. ''La meiga'' by Jesús Guridi * 1930. ''La rosa del azafrán'' by Jacinto Guerrero * 1932. ''

'' by Federico Moreno Torroba * 1934. ''La chulapona'' by Federico Moreno Torroba * 1936. ''La tabernera del puerto'' by Pablo Sorozábal * 1939. ''La malquerida'' by

Conrado del Campo Conrado del Campo y Zabaleta (28 October 1878 – 17 March 1953) was a Spanish composer, violinist and pedagogue. Career Del Campo was born in Madrid. He became professor at the Madrid Royal Conservatory in 1915, where he was an influential teac ...

In 1941 Guillermo worked with his brother Rafael Fernández Shaw on Torroba's ''Maria Manuela''. Following Guillermo's feud with Federico Romero, which ultimately ended their artistic partnership, the two brothers then became regular collaborators, producing: * 1947. ''Un día de primavera'' by Jesús Romo * 1949. ''La duquesa del Candil'' by Jesús García Leoz * 1951 ''La lola se va a los puertos'' by Ángel Barrios * 1951. ''El canastillo de fresas'' by Jacinto Guerrero (Guerrero's last zarzuela) * 1953. ''El gaitero de Gijón'' by Jesús Romo

References

Sources

*López de Zuazo Algar, Antonio,
Catálogo de periodistas españoles del siglo XX
', Universidad Complutense, 1981. *Manzanares, Pedro Gomez and Webber, Christopher

''Zarzuela!'', October 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez-Shaw, Guillermo 1893 births 1965 deaths Spanish opera librettists People from Cádiz Place of birth missing Spanish male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Spanish male writers Spanish people of English descent