Person
Grande, Ángel (1894-1951)
Madrid (España) 1894 - 1951
Spanish violinist, conductor, composer and music critic.
He was born in 1894 in Madrid (Spain), and studied there and in Brussels. Music critics consider him one of the great Spanish violinists active in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, a group that also includes Jesús de Monasterio, Pablo Sarasate, Enrique Fernández Arbós, José del Hierro, Joan Manén and Manuel Quiroga. He gave concerts throughout Europe and the Americas. After settling in London, he became director of the Grotrian Chamber Music Orchestra and held different positions, including chairman, within the Anglo-Spanish Chamber Music Society. On November 16, 1916, he played at the Hotel Palace in Madrid with pianist Caroline Peezenih and singer Garby Georgesco. He also appeared with pianist Guillermo Cases at Madrid's Teatro Español, performing works by Enrique Granados, Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn on March 17, 1917. In December 1932 he conducted the Orquesta de Cámara de Madrid in a concert at the Teatro Español that included "La oración del torero" by Joaquín Turina, "Suite" by Henry Purcell, "Toccata and Fugue" by Bach-Darnton and "Sonatina»" by Juan José Mantecón. In 1933, Grande made several trips to Spain and Canada. In London he and María Lewinscaya premiered Joaquín Turina's "Sonata española" (1934), dedicated to Pedro Sanjuán. He actively promoted the translation into English of Conrado del Campo's opera "Fantochines". As a composer, he wrote "Saeta" and "Serenata española", both for violin and piano. He passed away in 1951.