Isabel María Francisca de Paula Luisa Clementina Güell y López (

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 ...

, November 23, 1872 - Barcelona, May 8, 1956), Marquess of Castelldosrius, was a Spanish composer of

religious works Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcen ...

, as well as a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. She composed approximately 34 works.

Early life and education

Isabel María Francisca de Paula Luisa Clementina Güell y López was born in Barcelona on November 23, 1872. Her mother was Isabel López Bru, born in Cuba (daughter of the first

Marquess of Comillas Marquess of Comillas () is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. On 3 July 1878, the title ''Marquess of Comillas'' was granted to Antonio López y López by the King Alfonso XII, in recognit ...

Antonio López y López Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

); her father was

Eusebi Güell Eusebi Güell Bacigalupi, 1st Count of Güell (; 15 December 1846 – 8 July 1918), also referred as Eusebio Güell, was a Spanish entrepreneur who profited greatly from the industrial revolution in Catalonia in the late 19th century. Biography ...

, first Count of Güell. Isabel had a cousin, Sister Eulalia Anzizu. She began her studies with Josep García Robles, composer of her father's court. She studied with her aunt, Josefa Bacigalupi, and later studied piano and organ in Barcelona and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Career

The Güell family moved to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

as a result of the cholera epidemic that devastated Spain in 1885. During their French stay, Isabel and her younger sister, received organ lessons from

Eugène Gigout Eugène Gigout (; 23 March 1844 – 9 December 1925) was a French organist and a composer, mostly of music for his own instrument. Biography Gigout was born in Nancy, and died in Paris. A pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, he served as the organis ...

. Isabel wrote for the magazine ''

Feminal ''Feminal'' () was a feminist magazine written in Catalan and published in Barcelona, Spain. It was one of the most important feminist publications in Spain of the early 20th century. History ''Feminal'' was a Catalan language monthly suppleme ...

'', directed by Carmen Karr, and the supplement of the weekly '. She played the piano and the organ and belonged to the choir of the directed by

Francesca Bonnemaison i Farriols Francesca Bonnemaison i Farriols (12 April 1872 – 1949) was a Spanish Catalan educator and promoter of female education in Catalonia. She established Biblioteca Popular de la Dona (lit. Popular Library of Women), first library exclusively f ...

. Her main dedication was to charity and philanthropy, as befitted a woman of her social class. She was also interested in education. In 1902, she was appointed a member of the Board of Public Instruction of Barcelona. She composed approximately 34 works, mostly religious music, which were performed at different times, for example, on April 23, 1911, in a

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

celebrated at the for the feast of Sant Jordi. She also composed

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

and songs with piano accompaniment incorporating lyrics by different poets. She also wrote a ''Te Deum'' (1918) and a ''Stabat Mater'' (1917). Her main dedication was charity and benevolence, as befitted a woman of her social class in that era.

Personal life

Isabel's father, a patron of

Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( , ; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalans, Catalan architect and designer from Spain, widely known as the greatest exponent of Catalan ''Modernisme''. Gaudí's works have a style, with most located in Barc ...

, commissioned works such as the

Palau Güell The Palau Güell (, ) is a mansion designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí for the industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell, and was built between 1886 and 1888. It is situated on the Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in the El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona ...

and

Park Güell Park Güell ( ; ) is a complex of parks and gardens in Barcelona with architectural elements, located in the La Salut neighborhood of the Gràcia district in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the southern slope of the Turó del Car ...

. She lived in Palau Güell with her parents and siblings from her teenage years until 1901, when she married Carlos de Sentmenat y Sentmenat, Grandee of Spain, IX Marquis of Castelldosrius, Marquis of Orís and

Baron of Santa Pau Baron of Santa Pau () is a hereditary title in the Spanish nobility created in Catalonia on an unknown date, though believed to have been made before 1070, as at that time, in Girona, there are records of a knight named Almérico I de Santa Pau ...

. Gaudí decorated the young couple's house on Junta de Comercio Street. The anecdote is told that Gaudí, unable to fit Isabel's grand piano, recommended that she play the violin. This fact is recorded by Josep Carner in a passage of his book Auques i ventalls.Carner, Josep (1914). ''Auques i ventalls''. Barcelona: Can Marián Galvé. From 1939 onwards, she devoted herself to her grandchildren, giving them music and French lessons. She died in Barcelona on May 8, 1956, and was buried in the family pantheon of

Dosrius Dosrius (, ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Maresme in Catalonia, Spain, located in the interior of the comarca on the border with the Eastern Valleys, and is at the head of the Argentona Riera. The original name, first recorded in 963 ...

(

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the Maresme county in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, Maresme coast, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, north-east of Barcel ...

Selected works

* ''Amunt!'' (1889). Lyrics: Ramón Picó Campamar * ''Gavota'' (1890). Dedicated to Enriqueta Goletti. * ''La llar'' (1890). Dedicated to her son Félix de Sentmenat y Güell. Lyrics: Ramón Picó Campanar * ''Sanctus'' (1892) * ''Ave María'' (ed. Londres 1894). Lyrics: Ramón Picó Campanar * ''Minuet'' 1894)* ''Letanías de la Virgen'' (1896) * ''Serenata'' 1896)* ''Pater Noster'' (1897) * ''Cant del sometent'' (1898). Lyrics: Eulalia Anzizu * ''Rima'' (1898). Lyrics:

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (), was a Spanish Spanish Romance literature, Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, columni ...

* ''Te Deum'' (1898) * ''Offerimus tibi Domine'' (1899) * ''Psallite Deo nostro'' (1899) * ''Ecce lignum'' (1905) * ''Corpus Christi'' (1911). Lyrics: Ramón Picó Campanar * ''Jesús als noys'' (1911) * ''Pregaria al Sagrat Cor de Jesús'' (1911Lyrics * ''Balada'' (1912). Dedicated to Melchor Rodríguez de Alcántara. Lyrics:

Joan Roís de Corella Joan Roís de Corella (; Gandia or Valencia, 1435 – Valencia, 1497) was a Catalan language writer from the Kingdom of Valencia. He was born into a minor noble family of Aragonese origin in either Gandia or Valencia and apparently followed a ...

* ''Barcarola "Lo que diu una cançó"'' (1912). Lyrics: Miguel Costa y Llobera * ''Domine Dominus noste''r (1913) * ''La rosa marcida'' (1915). Dedicated to the choir of the Institut de Cultura Popular per a la Dona. Lyrics: Jacint Verdaguer * ''Sacris solemnis'' (1915) * ''Tantum ergo'' (1915) * ''Cançó trista'' (1916). Lyrics: Apeles Mestres * ''Stabat Mater'' (1917) * ''Jubilate Deo omnis terra, Psalmo XCIX'' (1918) * ''Benedictus''. Lyrics: Isabel López Bru * ''Comunión'' * ''Douce espérance''. Dedicated to María Cristina de Habsburgo, queen regent * ''Misa'' * ''Misa en honor de San Eusebio'' * ''O salutaris'' * ''Pulchra est, et decora''

Discography

* CD, ''Compositores catalanas. Generación modernista''. María Teresa Garrigosa (soprano) and Heidrun Bergander (piano). La mano de guido. Dip.leg. B-45.116-2008.

References

Bibliography

* Albert i Corp, Esteve (1900). ''Isabel Güell i López de Sentmenat. Marquesa de Castelldosrius''. Andorra la Vella: Pyrene, 1999. ISBN 9991316043 {{DEFAULTSORT:Guell i Lopez, Isabel 1872 births 1956 deaths Spanish composers Spanish pianists Spanish organists Musicians from Barcelona Performers of Christian music Burials at Poblenou Cemetery