Anastasio Martín Ignacio Vicente Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin Martín y Soler (2 May 175430 January or 10 February 1806) was a Spanish composer of

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. Although relatively obscure now, in his own day he was compared favorably with his contemporary and admirer,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, as a composer of

opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...

. In his time he was called "Martini lo spagnuolo" ("Martini the Spaniard"); in modern times, he has been called "the Valencian Mozart". He was known primarily for his melodious Italian

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

s and his work with

Lorenzo Da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (; 10 March 174917 August 1838) was an Italians, Italian, later American, opera libretto, librettist, poet and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Wolfgan ...

in the late 18th century, as well as the melody from '' Una cosa rara'' quoted in the dining scene of Mozart's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

''.

Biography

Martín y Soler was born in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. His father, Francisco Xavier Martín, was a tenor at the cathedral in town, where Vicente was a chorister there in his youth. Vicente moved to

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 ...

probably around 1775, and studied music in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

under

Giovanni Battista Martini Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, (24 April 1706 – 3 August 1784), also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the period and a mentor to Mozart ...

. His first opera was ''Il tutore burlato'' (1775), to an Italian libretto adapted from

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...

's ''La frascatana'', which in turn was based on a play of the same title by Filippo Livigni. This was premiered in 1775 at the Teatro Real Coliseo in

San Lorenzo de El Escorial San Lorenzo de El Escorial, also known as El Escorial de Arriba, is a town and municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located to the northwest of the region in the southeastern side of the Sierra de Guadarrama, at the foot of Moun ...

, north of Madrid. In 1776 or 1777 the composer had the libretto translated into

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and put it into

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 ...

form, adding spoken dialogue, as ''La madrileña, o El tutor burlado''. This was performed in Madrid during 1778, by which time Martín y Soler was back in Italy. After 1776, he wrote Italian operas, both comic and serious, which were performed throughout Italy. In 1777, he travelled to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, where he composed for the

Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and ...

. During this period, he worked with choreographer Charles le Picq to compose four ''ballets d’action'': ''La Griselda'' (1779, derived from the libretto by

Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 – 11 November 1750) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a Kingdom of Candia#Establishment_of_Venetian_rule, colonial branch of the ...

), ''Il ratto delle Sabine'' (1780), ''La bella Arsene'' (1781), and ''Tamas Kouli-Kan'' (1781, an interpretation of Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi's libretto). He also worked with Zeno on an

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...

, ''Andromaca'', in 1780. In addition, he composed two ''mezzocarattere'' ballets, ''La sposa persiana'' (1778) and ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' (1781, based on the play by

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French playwright and diplomat during the Age of Enlightenment. Best known for his three #Figaro plays, Figaro plays, at various times in his life he was also a watc ...

). In Naples, he also worked with court librettist Luigi Serio on the composition of opere serie, producing ''Ifigenia'' (1779) and ''Ipermestra'' (1780). Around 1780, he was also appointed court composer for

Charles IV of Spain Charles IV (; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808. The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disa ...

. In 1785 he moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he enjoyed great success with three operas composed to texts by

, who was simultaneously collaborating with Mozart and

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...

, the rival of the former. These three comedies were '' Una cosa rara'' (1786, based on the play ''La luna de la sierra'' by

Luis Vélez de Guevara Luis Vélez de Guevara (born Luis Vélez de Santander) (1 August 1579 – 10 November 1644) was a Spanish dramatist and novelist. He was born at Écija and was of Jewish converso descent.Antonio Dominiguez Ortiz, "Los judeoconversos en Españ ...

); '' Il burbero di buon cuore'' (1786, based on

Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (, also , ; 25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays ...

's French-language play '' Le bourru bienfaisant''); and '' L'arbore di Diana'' (1787). He is credited with introducing, in ''Una cosa rara'', the

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

to Vienna; and a melody from the same work is quoted by Mozart in the banquet scene in Act 2 of ''

'' (1787). Soon, Martín y Soler was also composing highly successful operas for

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

's imperial theater. In 1788, Martín y Soler was invited to serve as composer and singing instructor at

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

's Russian court at

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where he wrote three

Russian-language Russian is an East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is the native language of the Russians. It was the ''de facto'' and ''de j ...

operas, ''The Unfortunate Hero Kosmetovich'' (1789, libretto written in part by

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

), ''Melomania'' (1790), and ''Fedul and his Children'' (1791, with Vasili Pashkevich). Moving to London for the 1795 season, he provided three more

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

operas: ''La capricciosa corretta'' (libretto again by Lorenzo Da Ponte, partly adapted from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

''); ''L'isola del piacere'' and ''Le nozze de' contadini spagnuoli''. He returned to St. Petersburg and was appointed maestro di capella at the

Smolny Institute The Smolny Institute () is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia, notably as a center of women's education, and the headquarters of the Bolsheviks during the early stages of the October Re ...

(then called the Educational Society of Noble Maidens) in 1796.A.L. Porfir'eva, "Martin-i-Soler," ''Muzykal'nyi Peterburg: Entsiklopedicheskii Slovar'' vol.II (St. Petersburg: Kompozitor, 2000), 183. After returning to St Petersburg, he wrote his last opera, ''La festa del villaggio'' (1798). He also wrote a number of tragic ballets during his residence as Court Composer there, including ''Didon abandonée'' (1792), ''Amour et Psyché'' (1793, based on ''

Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" ( ψυχή). Psyche or La Psyché may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unc ...

'' by

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

, Corneille and

Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688) was a French dramatist and librettist. Biography Quinault was born in Paris. He was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's fi ...

), ''Tancrède'' (1799) and ''Le retour de Poliorcète'' (1799). Shortly before his 1806 death in Saint Petersburg, he served as inspector for the Italian opera there. He was still in his post when he died. His grave is located next to the St. Alexander Nevsky Monastery, alongside those of composers such as

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

and Glinka.

Notes

External links

List of works

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinysoler, Vicente 1754 births 1806 deaths Spanish Classical-period composers Spanish opera composers Spanish male opera composers Musicians from Valencia 19th-century Spanish male musicians