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Authors There are 115 authors
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Valls Duran, Pere
Pere Valls i Duran was born in Sabadell (Barcelona) in the year 1869, and died in the Catalan capital in 1935. He was an outstanding double-bass player and composer and an excellent double-bass teacher. He began his musical studies in Sabadell, but later moved to Barcelona to extend them. At the age of eighteen, already with a good command of the double bass, he travelled to the Republic of Argentina, where he established himself in Buenos Aires, and formed part of several orchestras. There, he was able to extend his studies of harmony and counterpoint, as well as the double bass, with José Roveda, pupil of the great Italian double bass player Giovanni Bottessini. The experience he gained in Buenos Aires, both with symphonic and operatic repertoires, was decisive in his career. The American phase ended in 1892 when, due to family circumstances, he had to return to Catalonia.
That same year he settled in Barcelona and, throughout the following 30 years, he was one of the most outstanding artists on the Catalan music scene, because of the significant roles he played in four areas: in the first place, as an performer - he was part of the best orchestras of the time, such as the Orchestra Pau Casals, Barcelona’s City Band and the Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu; secondly, as a double bass teacher - he was a teacher at the Liceu Conservatoire for more than 20 years, and the majority of the country’s double bass instrumentalists passed through his classes. In addition, he was the author of a Method for the Double Bass, indebted to the Bottessini School; thirdly, through his work in promoting music, by actively participating in different musical associations like the Musicians’ Union of Catalonia, the Barcelona Wagnerian Association or the Workers’ Concert Association; and, fourthly, as a composer.
As a composer, Pere Valls was the author of more than fifty works for various groups, but, of all of them, those for the double bass are outstanding. From among his works for the double bass and piano, we highlight the Andalusian Suite (1918) in four movements. It is a work which is currently included in the repertoire of several European double bass schools, such as Madrid’s Reina Sofia department. Other remarkable works are the three Fantasias for double bass and orchestra (written between 1894 and 1917), one of which is a tribute to Bottessini; the Grand obligatory concerto for double bass (1906), the Fantasia andante with variations, the Grand Introduction and Tarantella, the Theme with variations for the double bass, the Tarantella-concerto for double bass (1893) and the Romance for double bass and piano, a work which - in its transcription for the cello - was played for the first time by Pau Casals himself. His catalogue is completed with works for orchestras, piano, chamber orchestras, the cobla (a wind orchestra popular in Catalonia), for bands, solo instruments, dance bands and, finally, a zarzuela (Spanish operetta). -
Vila, Francesc
Francesc Vila i Ginferrer, conductor, composer and teacher, was born in Castellbell i el Vilar (Bages) in 1922, where he lived all his life. He started studying music with teacher Miquel Blanch in Manresa, with Ester Oliveras in Castellbell and with Vilar i Blanca Morera in Manresa. His further education took place at the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona and his education in choral conducting and musical education followed the Dalcroze, Llongueres and Orff methods.
Maestro Enric Gibert had a particularly strong influence on his training as a conductor. He was a leading light in the choral world, conducting the Burés Choir, the Montserrat Choir, the choir and orchestra of La Passió of Olesa, the Castellet Music Association and the Young Percussionists’ Association. He was the driving force behind various social and musical initiatives such as the International Choral Singing Day in Barcelona and the International Festival of Choral Singing of Central Catalonia.
The bulk of his work was devoted to the choral world, with original songs, harmonisations and choral adaptations of traditional songs. Many of these pieces feature lyrics by Joan Farràs. He also put to music the poems of Jacint Verdaguer, Salvador Espriu and Federico García Lorca (the well-known Nocturne from a Window), Miquel Martí Pol, Miquel Desclot, Tomàs Garcés and Màrius Torres. He also wrote and adapted many songs and pieces of music for children, and various scores for sardana and ballet dances.
He won several prizes for his compositions, but one of the best rewards is that every choir in the country has at some point sung a song by Francesc Vila.
Cassià M. Just wrote about the composer: “His name and that of the Burés Choir are known in every corner of our land as a message of simplicity, beauty and admiration.”
He died in May 2011. -
Vilaprinyó, Jordi
A pianist, piano teacher, composer and arranger, he was trained in the Municipal Conservatory of Music in Barcelona.
Considered by both audiences and specialised critics alike to be one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, his music has been present at all the major musical events in Catalonia.
His prestige as an arranger has enabled him to take part in a large number of recordings, working with the best singers and musical groups in the country.
As a pianist, he has had an extensive international career that has led him to give piano recitals as a soloist or with chamber orchestras in the greatest concert halls in Europe, performing with the top symphony orchestras. He has worked with major artists such as the flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal, the viola Paul Cortese, the soprano Enriqueta Tarrés or the percussionist Xavier Joaquin, as well as with the Livschitz Trio and the soloists of the St. John’s Smith Square Orchestra, London.
Since 1986 he has been tenured professor of piano at the Municipal Higher Conservatory of Music in Barcelona, and has periodically been invited to collaborate as an expert professor in several piano and chamber music competitions, international summer courses and in other conservatories in Spain.
