Antoni Nicolau i Parera

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Antoni Nicolau i Parera around 1925

Antoni Nicolau i Parera (born June 8, 1858 in Barcelona ; † February 26, 1933 there ) was a Catalan conductor and composer . Nicolau was a central figure in the musical Catalan Renaixença .

life and work

Nicolau gave up medicine in favor of studying music. He studied piano with Joan Baptista Pujol and composition with Gabriel Balart . In 1874 he won a composition competition advertised by Joan Baptista Pujol. From 1878 to 1885 he undertook in-depth studies at the Paris Conservatory .

In 1886 he returned to Barcelona. Here he brought the great classical music repertoire of Europe to the stage, but also the repertoire of Catalan composers such as Lluís Millet , Isaac Albéniz , Enric Granados and Felip Pedrell . From 1886 he conducted numerous symphony concerts in the Liceu and from 1892 in the context of the Societat Catalana de Concerts (Catalan Concert Society), which represented a milestone in the musical life of Catalonia. He was the first musician in Barcelona to perform all nine symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven as well as contemporary works by César Franck , Richard Strauss and Vincent d'Indy around 1900 .

Nicolau was also active as a music teacher. For a short time he headed the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu . From 1896 to 1930 he directed the Barcelona Municipal Conservatory .

His choral works are characterized by extraordinary stylistic skills. His extraordinary musical talent left the poetic and dramatic sense of the texts by Jacint Verdaguer in the compositions La mort de l'escolà , Entre flors (Between Flowers), Divendres sant (Good Friday), Cançó del pelegrí (Pilgrims' song), Salve montserratina , Cançó de la moreneta (Song of the Black Mother of God) and Cançó dels escolans stand out clearly. He was the author of Simfonia Athalia (1876), which was premiered with great success in Liceu , the symphonic poem Le triomphe de Vénus (The Triumph of Venus), which was premiered in Paris in 1882, the work Spes , which was presented on the occasion of the world exhibition in Boston premiered and the Breton legend Henora . He also wrote dramatic works La tempestad (1877, The Storm) and the opera Constanza (1878), which premiered in the Liceu of Barcelona, ​​the comic opera Un rapto (1887, A kidnapping) and the dramatic Zarzuela Corazón de fuego (1895) which premiered at the Teatre Novetats in Barcelona.

Nicolau was one of the central figures of the modern Catalan choir school.

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Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Antoni Nicolau i Parera. In: Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Antoni Nicolau i Parera. In: Gran Enciclopèdia de la Música.
personal data
SURNAME Nicolau i Parera, Antoni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan conductor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1933
Place of death Barcelona