José Ferrer Esteve de Fujadas (in 19th-century France known as "Joseph Ferrer") (13 March 1835 – 7 March 1916) was a Spanish guitarist and composer.

Life

Ferrer was born in

Torroella de Montgrí Torroella de Montgrí () is a coastal municipality on the Costa Brava, and small town in Catalonia, Spain. The town lies on the north bank of the Ter river, a few kilometres before it flows into the Mediterranean. The beach resort of L'Estartit al ...

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, and studied

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

with his father, a guitarist and collector of

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

, before continuing his studies with José Brocá. In 1882, he left Spain for

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 ...

in order to teach at the Institut Rudy and at the Académie Internationale de Musique, also becoming the official guitarist of the Comédie Française, and remained in Paris for 16 years. Ferrer gave regular performances as a soloist. He taught at the

Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu () is a music college in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was created in 1837 with the name ''Liceo Filo-dramático de Montesión''. In 1847 the institution inaugurated the opera house Gran Teatre del Li ...

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 ...

from 1898 to 1901. Following a period of moving between Barcelona and Paris, he settled permanently in Barcelona in 1905, where he died.

Music

Most of Ferrer's compositions were written for guitar but, being a deeply religious man, he also wrote some sacred music. His works for guitar solo and duo resemble the fashionable

salon music Salon music was a popular music genre in Europe during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano in the Romantic music, romantic style, and is often performed by the composer at events known as "Salon (gathering), Salons". Salon compo ...

of his time, bearing titles such as ''Le Charme de la nuit'' ("Charm of the Night") and ''La Danse des Naïades'' ("Dance of the Naiads"). One of his most popular pieces was his opus 1, ''Recuerdos de Montgri''. He dedicated a number of pieces to his pupils, especially to the females. About half the number of his c.100 compositions were published during his lifetime, mainly by Vidal of Barcelona, Dupont and Pisa of Paris and latterly by Union Musical Española of Madrid. He also wrote an unpublished

method Method (, methodos, from μετά/meta "in pursuit or quest of" + ὁδός/hodos "a method, system; a way or manner" of doing, saying, etc.), literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In re ...

for guitar as well as duos for guitar and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, and

songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

. His method "shows his great knowledge and understanding of the guitar's history and technique".

Compositions

Sorted, within the sections, after opus number. Dates are for first publication, not necessarily for composition, taken from the online catalogues of the

Biblioteca Nacional de España The (National Library of Spain) is the national library of Spain. It is the largest public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1711, it is an autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Culture since 1 ...

and the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

. Guitar *''Recuerdos de Montgri''. Capricho, Op. 1 (1873) (dedicated to José Brocá) *''Quejas de mi lira''. Vals, Op. 2 (1892) *''Fantasía con variaciones sobre un tema de Beriot'', Op. 3 (1877) *''Cuatro piezas progresivas'', Op. 4 (1885). Contains: 1. ''Vals''; 2. ''Minué''; 3. ''Andante''; 4. ''Allegretto''. *''El ramillete''. Diez pequeñas piezas, Op. 5 (1885) *''Brisas del Parnaso''. Cuatro piezas, Op. 6 (1885) *''El talismán''. Vals, Op. 7 (1885) *''Horas apacibles''. Ocho piezas fáciles, Op. 8 (1885) *''Tres valses'', Op. 9 (1885) *''Polonesa'', Op. 10 (1885) *''Dos nocturnos'', Op. 11 (1888) *''Doce minués'', Op. 12 (1888) (dedicated to

Francisco Tárrega Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as '' Capricho Árabe'' and '' Recuerdos de la Alhambra''. Biography ...

) *''Elegía fantástica'', Op. 13 (1888) (dedicated to the memory of José Brocá) *''De noche en el lago''. Fantasía con variaciones, Op. 14 (1888) *''La gallegada'' Fantasía pastoril con variaciones, Op. 15 (1892) *''Los encantos de París''. Capricho fantástico, Op. 16 (1892) *''Veladas íntimas''. Cuatro piezas para guitarra, Op. 17 (1904) *''Impresiones juveniles''. Vals brillante, Op. 18 (1904) *''Dos tangos'', Op. 19 (1904) *''Canto de amor''. Vals de concierto, Op. 20 (1904) *''Veillées d'automne''. Quatre pièces faciles, Op. 21 (1893) *''Echos de la forêt''. Mélodie-valse, Op. 22 (1893) *''Belle''. Gavotte, Op. 24 (1893) *''Souvenir du 15 Aout'' Romance sans paroles, Op. 25 (1892) *''L'Étudiant de Salamanque''. Pièces caractéristiques espagnoles, Op. 31 (1898) *''Agréments du foyer''. Trois pièces faciles, Op. 32 (1898) *''Les Soupirs''. Valse de concert, Op. 33 (1898) *''La Danse des Naïades'', Op. 35 (1898) *''Charme de la nuit''. Nocturne, Op. 36 (1898) *''Brise d'Espagne''. Valse caractéristique, Op. 37 (1898) *''Pensées mélodiques''. Quatre pièces, Op. 38 (1898). Contains: 1. ''Menuet''; 2. ''Barcarolle''; 3. ''Mélodie expressive''; 4. ''Sicilienne''. *''Souvenirs d'antan''. Six menuets, Op. 40 (1898) *''Gerbe de fleurs''. 4 pièces faciles, Op. 41 (1903). Contains: 1. ''Cantilène espagnole''; 2. ''Pavane''; 3. ''Mazurka''; 4. ''Berceuse''. *''Trois Mélodies'', Op. 42 (1903). Contains: 1. ''Plainte amoureuse''; 2. ''Méditation''; 3. ''Doux message''. *''Rêve du poète''. Mélodie, Op. 43 (1903) *''Pensées du soir'', Op. 44 (1903) *''Soliloquio''. Nocturno, Op. 46 (1906) *''Urania''. Nocturno, Op. 47 (1906) *''Canto del bardo''. Capricho, Op. 48 (1906) *''Minué'', Op. 49 (1906) *''Cuatro piezas fáciles'', Op. 50 (1912) *''El gondolero''. Melodía, Op. 51 (1912) *''La mascarita''. Mazurka, Op. 52 (1912) *''Barcarola'', Op. 54 (1912) *''El mensagero'', Op. 55 (1913) *''Minué'', Op. 56 (1913) *''Inquietud'', Op. 57 (1914) *''Misiva afectuosa'', Op. 58 (1914) *''Balada'', Op. 59 (c.1914) *''Adagio'', Op. 60 *''La Ausencia'', Op. 61 *''Marcha nupcial'', Op. 62 *''Seranata espagnol'', Op. 63 Piano *''Ismalia''. Galop (1864) *''La Exposicion''. Vals *''La Inquieta''. Polka (1864) *''Las dos Hermanas''. Polka-mazurca (1867) *''Loreto''. Americana (1867) *''Misterio''. Capricho-Schotisch (1876) *''La Craintive''. Polka-mazurka, Op. 21 (1878) *''Le Premier salut aux beaux-arts''. Mélodie variée (1878) *''La tranquila''. Redowa (1885) Duos *''Fantasía sobre motivos de "Lucrezia Borgia" (Donizetti)'' (1878) *''Minué'' (n.d.) and ''Vals'' for two guitars (1879)Originally unpublished; edited by David Burden: Heidelberg, Chanterelle, 1992. *''Fantasía sobre motivos de "La Favorite" (Donizetti)'' (1881) *''Fantasía sobre motivos de "La Traviata" (Verdi)'' (1884) *''Mélancolie''. Nocturne, Op. 23, for two guitars or flute and guitar (1898) *''Les Sirènes''. Valse, Op. 26, for banjo and guitar or two guitars (1892) *''Sérénade espagnole'', Op. 34, for two guitars (1898) *''Boléro'', Op. 39, for piano and guitar (1895) *''Terpsichore''. Valse, Op. 45 for two guitars (1903) Songs *''El jaque''. Canción española (words by M. Alcayde) (1904)

Selected recordings

* ''Complete Guitar Duets'', performed by Jørgen Skogmo and Jens Franke (Naxos 8.574011, CD 2019).

Bibliography

* Domingo Prat: ''Diccionario de Guitarristas'' (Buenos Aires, 1934) * Simon Wynberg (ed.): ''Charme de la nuit. Selected Character Pieces for Guitar'' (London: Faber Music, 2003)

References

External links

;Sheetmusic

info
) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrer, Jose 1835 births 1916 deaths 19th-century Spanish classical composers 19th-century guitarists 19th-century Spanish male musicians 20th-century Spanish classical composers 20th-century male composers 20th-century Spanish male musicians Composers for the classical guitar Composers from Catalonia Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu alumni Spanish classical guitarists Spanish male classical composers Spanish Romantic composers Burials at Poblenou Cemetery