Spanish composer, music critic, teacher and music writer.

Born on 7 October 1880 in Barcelona, son of painter Jaume Pahissa i Laporta and Anna Jo i Prat.

He began to study music with his father, and enrolled in the architecture school at the Universitat de Barcelona, but he soon dropped out to focus on his music.

After working with Adrià Gual's Teatre Íntim, for whom he wrote the score of "Èdip rei" (1898), Pahissa presented several new compositions in the early 1900s, such as "El combat" (1900), "Trío en Sol" (1903) and, for orchestra, "A les costes mediterrànies" (1905) and "El camí" (1909). He continued to study with his uncle Francesc Laporta and Enric Morera, completing his education in 1910-1911 at the Paris and Brussels conservatories. After writing "Canigó" (1910), inspired by Jacint Veraguer's epic poem, in 1913 he premiered the opera "Gal·la Placídia" at the Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, which marked the beginning of his professional success in Europe. In 1915 he presented "Sonata para violín y piano" in Madrid, his first attempt at tonal and constructivist experimentation.

This was a time of non-stop premieres for Pahissa: the lyric drama "La morisca" in 1919; "Sinfonietta" in 1921; the opera "Marianela" in 1923, at the Teatro del Liceu; "Monòdia" in 1925 and "Suite intertonal" in 1926, both strikingly experimental; and the opera "La princesa Marguerida" in 1928, again at the Liceu. In 1927 the Associació de Música da Càmera arranged a tribute to acknowledge his achievements and successes, and in 1930 a festival was dedicated solely to his compositions. That same year, he married Montserrat Campà.

Pahissa combined his musical pursuits with teaching. He taught aesthetics at the Conservatori de Música del Liceu from 1933, and harmony and composition at the Escola Municipal de Música de Barcelona from 1935. He also contributed to the magazines "Mirador" and "Revista Catalana" and wrote for the newspapers "La Publicitat" (1920-1922) and "Las Noticias" from 1926.

The Spanish Civil War forced him to become an exile in Argentina in 1937, where he continued to make music and teach. In 1937 he composed "Cantata a la tumba de García Lorca", premiered by the actress Margarita Xirgu, and in 1938 he wrote "Angélica" for the stage. He also published monographs such as "Naturaleza de la música y de la creación musical" (1938), "Los grandes problemas de la música" (1945), "Espíritu y cuerpo de la música" (1945) and "Sendas y cumbres de la música española" (1955). Pahissa remained connected to Barcelona through his involvement in the Jocs Florals of 1941 and 1960, and composed patriotic Catalan pieces like "Obertura sobre un tema popular catalán".

In 1947 he published "Vida y obra de Manuel de Falla", the first biography of the composer Manuel de Falla, who had been a close friend ever since they met in Barcelona. He was a fellow of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi. He passed away on 27 October 1969 in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

El archivo personal de Jaume Pahissa se conserva en la Biblioteca de Cataluña, donado por los hijos del compositor, Ricard, Jaume y Eulàlia entre 1995 y 2013. Contiene partituras, recortes de prensa y correspondencia con María del Carmen y Manuel de Falla.