PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

Pedrell, Felipe (1841-1922)Alternative forms (other languages) Other forms

Fechas de existencia:

Tortosa (Tarragona, España) 1841-02-19 - Barcelona (España) 1922-08-20

History:

Spanish musicologist, composer, teacher, music critic and editor.

Born on 19 February 1841 in Tortosa (Tarragona), and passed away on 20 August 1922 in Barcelona. Son of Felipe Pedrell Cassadó and María Sabaté Colomé; brother of José Pedrell Sabaté, and uncle of Carlos Pedrell.

His music education began as a choirboy singing under Joan Antoni Nin Serra, choirmaster of Tortosa cathedral, and in 1856 he composed his first work, "Stabat Mater" for three voices. He continued to study music on his own in Tortosa, occasionally travelling to Barcelona to listen to opera. In 1867 he married Carmen Domingo Estrany, who passed away the following year after the birth of their daughter Carmen.

In 1873 Pedrell decided to move to Barcelona to continue his education, and launch his career. He found work as secondary conductor of an operetta company at Barcelona's Teatro Circo, while continuing to compose in his free time. After writing several versions, in 1874 he premiered the opera "Le dernier abencérage", at the Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; later, in 1889, he revived it in revised form under the title "L'ultimo abenzeraggio", at the Teatre Líric. In 1875 he premiered the opera "Quasimodo", also at the Liceu, which was well received. That work garnered him a scholarship that allowed him to study in France and Italy between 1876 and 1878. During this period he composed the lieder cycles "Orientales", based on poems by Victor Hugo, and "Consolations", with text by Theophile Gautier, both from 1876; and the symphonic poem "Lo cant de les muntanyes" (1877), which won a prize after its complete premiere in 1892.

Pedrell returned to Spain in 1878, but soon found himself back in Paris, where he lived until 1880. That year he wrote the symphonic piece "Excelsior". He returned to Barcelona in 1882 to run the magazines "Salterio sacro-hispano" and "Notas musicales y literarias". He also contributed to the work "Celebridades musicales" in 1886. Between 1888 and 1896, he was editor of the illustrated magazine "Ilustración musical hispano-americana", where he began publishing the highly successful supplement "Diccionario técnico de la música" in 1892. His biographical dictionary of composers, "Diccionario biográfico y bibliográfico de músicos y escritores de música españoles, portugueses e hispano americanos antiguos y modernos" (1897), was also quite renowned.

During this time, Pedrell composed the zarzuela "Los secuestradores" (1889) and two song cycles under the pseudonym "F. Peláez". In 1890 he began working on the opera "Els Pirineus", with a libretto based on Victor Balaguer's eponymous work, although it was not performed until 1902. One year later, he published "Por nuestra música", a seminal essay that revealed his thoughts on musical nationalism, and became music editor of the "Diario de Barcelona", a post he held until 1892.

He moved to Madrid, where he taught vocal ensemble at the conservatory from 1895, and later music history and aesthetics. He entered the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (1895) with a speech titled "Sobre la música española". He was a music history professor at the Escuela de Estudios Superiores (1896), and published several musicology works, including "Hispaniae Schola Musica Sacra" (1894-1896).

Pedrell was an excellent teacher, and many great musicians benefited from his instruction: Narcisa Freixas (1859-1926), Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), Enrique Granados (1867-1916), Lluís Millet (1867-1941), Amadeo Vives (1871-1932), Joan Lamote de Grignon (1872-1949), Carlos Pedrell (1878-1941), Nemesio Otaño (1880-1956), Luisa Bosch Pagés (1880-1961), Joaquín Turina (1882-1949), Pedro Blanco (1883-1919), José Antonio Donostia (1886-1956), Cristòfor Taltabull (1888-1964), Higinio Anglès (1888-1969), José María Peris Polo (1889-1936), Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970), Rosa García Ascot (1902-2002) and Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), his pupil from 1902 to 1904, whom he advised to go to Paris.

"La música religiosa en España" was Pedrell's short-lived experiment, a music journal he launched in 1897, and closed down in 1899. In 1902 he began writing for the daily "La Vanguardia", and publishing the complete works of polyphonic Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria. He returned to Barcelona in 1904 and continued to work as a musicologist and composer. The operas "La Celestina" (1902) and "El comte Arnau" (1904) and the cycle "Canciones arabescas" (1906) all date from this period. In 1911, his hometown organised a tribute on his seventieth birthday, and he began to work on his autobiography. He published "Cancionero musical popular español" in 1918, and "P. Antonio Eximeno" in 1920. Before his death, he donated all of his archives, books, manuscripts and private papers to the Institut d'Estudis Catalans.

Context:

El fondo personal de Felipe Pedrell fue donado por él mismo al Institut d’Estudis Catalans; más tarde pasó a formar parte de la sección musical de la Biblioteca de Catalunya. Este fondo contiene: documentación personal, textos y artículos propios y de otros autores, documentación profesional, monografías y folletos, publicaciones periódicas, recortes de prensa, programas de mano, fotografías y correspondencia.