Pedro Miguel Juan Buenaventura Bernadino Marqués y García (20 May 1843 Palma, Majorca, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 - 15 February 1918 Palma) was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 composer and violinist.

Life

He was the son of a chocolate maker. By the age of four he was already showing unusual musical talent, and by eleven he was playing violin for a Palma opera company, for which he wrote a Fantasía para violin which enjoyed a notable triumph. Between 1859 and 1863 family finance enabled him to study in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, after 1861 as a violinist at the Paris Conservatoire with Massard. In 1863 he was admitted to the orchestra of the Théâtre Lyrique

Théâtre Lyrique

The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century . The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852...

, and began studying composition, and instrumentation with Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...

.

He returned to Majorca when called up to his military service, but in 1866 he resumed his studies at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, studying Violin with Monasterio and Composition with Emilio Arrieta

Emilio Arrieta

Pascual Juan Emilio Arrieta Corera was a Spanish composer.Arrieta was born in Puente la Reina, Navarre, and died in Madrid...

 whilst playing in the orchestra of the Teatro de la Zarzuela. After 1878 he was Inspector of the National Music Schools. He also taught singing at the Foundling Girls' School in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, and published a handbook for Violin teachers.

Works

• Primera lágrima
• Justos por pecadores (zarzuela
  Zarzuela
  Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
  
  , 1872)
• El anillo de hierro (zarzuela in 3 acts, libretto by Marcos Zapata, premiered 1878 in Madrid)
• Camoens (zarzuela in 3 acts, 1879)
• Florinda (zarzuela in 3 acts, 1880)
• La cruz de fuego (zarzuela in 3 acts, 1883)
• El reloj de Lucerna (zarzuela in 3 acts, libretto by Marcos Zapata, based on events in Switzerland after the death of William Tell
  William Tell
  William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle....
  
  , premiered 1884 in Madrid)
• El plato del día (extravagancia lírica in 1 act, libretto by Andrés Ruesga, Manuel Lastra and Enrique Prieto, premiered 1889 in Madrid)
• El monaguillo (zarzuela cómica in 1 act, libretto by Emilio Sánchez Pastor, premiered 1891 in Madrid)
• La cova del Drach (symphonic poem, 1904)

External links

• Zarzuela! Composer Biographies - Marqués at www.zarzuela.net Biography and Painting