Joan Auli was a Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Auli was born in Felanitx

Felanitx

Felanitx is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, located in the southeast of Majorca, 48 kilometres from the capital Palma....

, Majorca. He had a precocious musical talent and was already an organist when he entered the Dominican Order

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 in 1814. On the dissolution of the Spanish monasteries in 1823 he wandered over Spain for several months, but in November of the same year he was allowed to return to Majorca. In 1825 he went back to Madrid to complete his theological education, playing the organ for a time at the Church of Our Lady of Atocha and being introduced to King Ferdinand VII. In 1828 he returned to Majorca living a very active musical life at the convent of Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

. The Mendizábal law of 1835 forced him to abandon his orders and to leave his native Majorca. Shortly after he became an organist at Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

. Back to the Balearic Isles in 1836, he settled in Felanitx

Felanitx

Felanitx is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, located in the southeast of Majorca, 48 kilometres from the capital Palma....

 and spent the rest of his life composing, serving occasionally as an organist, and producing his own operas at the local theaters. His Misa de coro, with organ accompaniment by Antonio Noguera is severe in style and frankly monastic in feeling. From his operas Norma and La doncella de Misolongi only a few fragments survive.

Work list

• Church music (chant and organ accompaniment): Misa de coro, ed. by Antonio Noguera (Palma de Mallorca, 1887) [See bibliography]; Missa del Santísimo Sacramento; Te Deum; Stabat Mater
• Hymns to: San Pedro, Inmaculada Concepción, San Juan Bautista, and Beata Catalina Thomàs
• Stage works: La doncella de Misolongi; Norma; El Sepultero; Grecia
• Piano works: Vals; Rigodón; Pasodoble; Variaciones in B-flat