As a child, he entered the choir school of the Cathedral of Tortosa, where he was a disciple of Juan Nin Serra and began to understand Spanish and Italian polyphony in the 16th century. Upon leaving the school, he continued his studies self-taught.
In 1873 he settled in Barcelona as second conductor of the Teatro Circo Barcelonès. During that stage he obtained success with several zarzuelas and composed operas such as Quasimodo (1875) Cléopâtre (1878). He also wrote numerous articles and a small piano encyclopedia. In 1876 he moved to Rome where he worked at the Vatican Library, and later for two years in Paris. The three years of stay in Europe motivated him to continue with composition and musicological research.
In 1881, he settled in Barcelona dedicating himself above all to writing and research. In 1883 he entered the church of Santa Ana as a kapellmeister and composed the opera "Els Pirineus" based on a libretto by Víctor Balaguer. Concerned about the subject of national opera, he wrote the booklet "Por nuestra música" which ended up becoming a true manifesto of musical nationalism.
In 1894 he moved to Madrid, where he released his opera "La Celestina". He was appointed professor of vocal ensemble at the Conservatory of the capital, entered the Academia de Bellas Artes and assumed the chair of aesthetics and music history. He began to publish, among other important works, a biographical and bibliographic dictionary of Iberian and Ibero-American musicians and composers, and the complete works of Tomás Luis de Victoria.
In 1904 he returned definitively to Barcelona. He then established links with the Institut d’Estudis Catalans and the Orfeó Català, promoting the creation of the music department of the Biblioteca de Catalunya. He continued to publish numerous musicological works.Felip Pedrell was one of the first Catalan musicians to contact foreign music, an essential fact that allows us to define his musical tendencies as a composer. He was also one of the introducers in Spain of Wagner's music. He studied medieval and Renaissance Catalan and Spanish music, with a prominent interest in folklore. He started his first contact with international musicology and founded musicological studies in Spain. He stood out as editor of music. He renewed the musical language and started the national lyrical theater. The outstanding quality of his music was hidden behind his fame as an intelectual. The number of first-level disciples he had was enormous, including Albéniz, Granados, Falla and Gerhard. It was they who ended up putting into practice the musical ideology of the teacher developing Spanish nationalism.
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW BETTER THE ARTIST?
Felip Pedrell Archive in the Biblioteca de Catalunya
PERFORMED WORKS
Elegia a Fortuny (Nocturn-Trio No 1) for piano trio
Nocturn-Trio op. 55 No 1 for violín, cello, piano and harmonium
Nocturn-Trio op. 55 No 2 for violin, cello, piano and harmonium
Cant del matí for violin, cello, piano and harmonium
Primavera op. 109 for voice and piano
Faust. Rapsodia for piano 4 hands
