Anselm Viola i Valentí

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Anselm Viola i Valentí OSB (* 1738 as Pere Viola i Valentí in Torroella de Montgrí ; † January 25, 1798 in Montserrat Monastery ) was a Catalan music teacher and composer from the Montserrat School .

life and work

At the age of ten, Pere Viola entered the Escolania de Montserrat , where he received his musical training from Benet Esteve and Josep Antoni Martí . In 1756 he joined the Benedictine order and took the order name Anselm. In 1758 he went to the monastery of Nuestra Señora de Monserrate de Madrid . Viola stayed in Madrid for ten years and completed his ecclesiastical studies there. He was obviously ordained a priest here, but this has not yet been clearly proven. He came here with highly skilled court musicians such as José de Torres (~ 1665–1738), José de Nebra (1702–1768), Antoni Lliteres (1673–1747), Francesc Manald (1715–1759) and Sebastián Albero (1722–1756) in Contact. From these musicians he took over the Italian musical culture of the time, which was widespread at the Spanish court and which he had already got to know to some extent from his teacher Josep Martí. In addition, Viola stood out in Madrid with his compositions. His works were performed with great respect by the royal chapel.

In 1767 he returned to the Montserrat monastery, where he was appointed director of the Escolania and the band in 1768 . He held these positions for over 30 years until his death.

Viola composed instrumental works, sonatas and other pieces for keyboard instruments as well as a concerto for bassoon and orchestra. He also created two masses for voices and orchestra and two Magnificats for six and seven voices. There are very few musical manuscripts by Viola. Most of them were lost in 1811 and 1812 when the monastery of Montserrat was destroyed by Napoleonic troops. The Escolania de Montserrat recorded some of the viola's works on CD. His compositional work did not find appropriate appreciation, although Viola was one of the outstanding musical personalities of the 18th century in the Catalan cultural area. His work represents the link between the musical tradition of Montserrat in the line of Joan Cererols (1618–1680) and Miguel López (1669–1723) and the Italian musical culture that was introduced in Montserrat and Madrid in the middle of the 18th century. This imprinting by two musical styles determined his personality, which was characterized by a strict but sensitive musical language and great coherence.

In addition, Viola worked as a music teacher at the Escolania de Montserrat for thirty years . Viola's work as a teacher had a profound influence on 19th century Catalan music through his students. Musicians like Antonio Soler and Fernando Sor were in the line of tradition described .

In 1793 Viola suffered a stroke, a circumstance that made it impossible for him to manage Escolania. He retained the title of master of the music band . On January 25, 1798, Viola died in the infirmary of the Montserrat monastery.

swell

literature

  • Maria Lluïsa Cortada: Anselm Viola: compositor, pedagog, monjo de Montserrat (1738–1798) . Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona 1998, ISBN 84-7826-996-7 ( limited preview in Google book search).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Anselm Viola. In: Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Anselm Viola i Valentí. In: Gran Enciclopèdia de la Música.
personal data
SURNAME Viola i Valentí, Anselm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Viola i Valentí, Pere (real name); Viola, Anselmo; Viola Valentí, Pedro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan music teacher and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1738
PLACE OF BIRTH Torroella de Montgrí
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 1798
Place of death Montserrat Monastery