Spanish composer, teacher and painter.

Matilde Salvador was born on March 23, 1918 in Castellón de la Plana (Castellón, Spain). She married the composer Vicente Asencio Ruano. Her maternal grandfather was the cellist and doctor Agustín Segarra Roso. Her parents were the orange merchant and violinist José Salvador Ferrer and the painter Matilde Segarra Gil; she was the sister of violinist Josefina Salvador Segarra and niece of the pianist Joaquina Segarra Gil.

Matilde began studying music with her aunt Joaquina in 1925. In 1932 she entered the Conservatorio de Música de Castellón and studied harmony under her future husband. She composed her first piano piece Campanas in 1935, and premiered it during a concert with her sister Josefina on January 23, 1936

at the Lo Rat Penat hall in Valencia. In 1937 her Tres cançons valencianes for soprano and orchestra won an award from the Consell de Cultura de València. Vicente Asencio conducted the first performance of her opera La filla del Rei Barbut in 1943. This opera clearly illustrates her aesthetic and compositional style, notably influenced by the works El retablo de maese Pedro (1919-1923) and Concerto per clavicembalo (o pianoforte), flauto, oboe, clarineto, violino e violoncello (1923-1926)by composer Manuel de Falla, with whom she maintained correspondence.

Alba lírica (1939) was her first attempt at a concert song, following in the footsteps of Falla, Joaquín Turina and Federico Mompou. She grouped her works into cycles, such as Seis canciones españolas (1939), Cançons de bres (1943), Canciones de nana y desvelo (1947), Cancionero de la enamorada (1947-1955), with texts by writer Carmen Conde, with whom she maintained a long friendship; Endechas y cantares de Sepharad (1947-1979), Arietas de primavera (1948) and Homenaje a la poesía femenina de América (1956). She dedicated her Seis canciones españolas (1939) for voice and piano to Falla and sent the score for him to revise, but she never received his corrections as Falla left for Argentina shortly after receiving her letter. She taught solfège and music theory at the Conservatorio de Valencia from 1977 to 1989.

Salvador received numerous honours and prizes in the course of her career, including the composition scholarship from the Fundación March in 1974, a distinction for cultural merit from the regional government of Valencia in 1997, the Medalla d'Or from the Universitat Jaume I de Castellón in 1998, the Medalla de Oro from the Universidad de Valencia in 2001, and the Cruz de Sant Jordi from the Catalan regional government in 2007.

In addition to the aforementioned compositions, Salvador wrote music for the stage, such as the ballets El segoviano esquivo (1953), for the choreographer and dancer Antonio (Antonio Ruiz Soler), and Sortilegio de la luna, premiered in 1955 by the Spanish dancer and choreographer Rosario (Florencia Pérez Padilla) in the Generalife gardens during the 4th International Music and Dance Festival of Granada; the opera Vinatea (1974), first performed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; and the Christmas work Betlem de la Pigà (1979). She also wrote Plany per la mort de Falla (1946) and Les hores (1983) for choir and orchestra, and various choral pieces to be performed a cappella or with instrumental accompaniment, such as Nadala joiosa (1964). Other notable song cycles are Doce canciones (1948-1960), Tonadillas sefardíes (1960) and Treinta canciones populares (1960). She also composed sacred music, exemplified by her Missa del Lledó (1966). She passed away on October 5, 2007 in Valencia (Spain).

Su legado, junto al de su esposo Vicente Asencio, se conserva en el Centre de documentació musical del Institut Valencià de Cultura. Comprende 1.866 partituras manuscritas de los dos compositores; 657 programas de mano; 347 grabaciones sonoras, entre discos, casetes y cintas magnetofónicas; correspondencia de personalidades de la música, como Falla; y otros documentos.

El Archivo de la Diputación Provincial de Castellón conserva el Fondo fotográfico Asencio-Salvador, donado en 2018 por Matilde Asencio Salvador, hija de ambos compositores; reúne 8.420 fotografías, con una cronología desde 1871 a 2007, con imágenes relativas al panorama artístico, cultural y musical valenciano y español, así como a la historia de Castellón.