Joaquín Espín y Guillén

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Joaquín Espín y Guillén (born May 3, 1812 in Velilla de Medinaceli , † June 24, 1881 in Madrid ) was a Spanish composer and musician. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Spanish Zarzuela music theater in the 19th century and was the father of the opera singer Julia Espín , with whom Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer maintained a platonic friendship.

Life

Under the influence of his grandfather who introduced him to music, he broke off a degree in philosophy and went to Burgos and Bordeaux to study music there. In Madrid he taught at the Conservatorio María Cristina and directed the choir and orchestra of the Madrid opera house Teatro Real . He was also the organist of the royal prayer band Capilla Real de Madrid .

With Mariano Soriano Fuertes he founded La Iberia musical y litteraria (1842–1846), one of the first magazines for Spanish music. He directed the Academia Filarmónica Matritense and contributed articles on music to Francisco de Paula Mellados Enciclopedia moderna (1851). He married a sister of the Spanish opera singer Isabella Colbran , Gioachino Rossini's first wife ; as the brother-in-law of the Italian composer, he became a celebrity in Madrid's musical world. Julia Espín , who later became the opera singer and platonic lover of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer , came from his marriage to Colbran , to whom he dedicated some of his Rimas. He and his brother, the painter Valeriano, often attended his Tertulia . The poet dedicated several drawings and verses as well as albums to his daughters Julia and Josefina. His son Joaquín Espín y Colbran was also a musician and conductor at the Teatro Real.

A strong proponent of the creation of a Spanish national opera, he achieved a partial premiere of his opera Padilla, o El asedio de Medina , sung by the famous tenor Enrico Tamberlik in 1845 . The musicologist and biographer Emilio Cotalero y Mori, for whom Espín was “an ordinary conductor, but as a composer uninspired and uninspired” seems to have been pleased about the low success of this work. He also composed religious music, due to which he became an elected member of the Academia Filarmónica de Bolonia . The only one of his works that enjoyed some success was his Zarzuela Carlos Broschi based on a libretto by Teodoro Guerrero, inspired by the life of the famous castrato Farinelli ; the premiere took place in Seville in 1853 . He also wrote songs, including La Ausencia de Colás and La Mariposa and various Doloras for violin .

literature

  • Roger Alier: La Zarzuela . Ed. Robinbook SL, Barcelona 2002, ISBN 84-95601-54-0 .
  • Gloria Araceli Rodríguez Lorenzo: Joaquín Espín y Guillén (1812–1882): una vida en torno a la ópera española. In: Cuadernos de Música Iberoamericana , ISSN  1136-5536 , Vol. 12, 2006, pp. 63-88.
  • Emilio Cotarelo y Mori: Historia de la Zarzuela. Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, Madrid 2003.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Emilio Cotarelo y Mori: Historia de la Zarzuela. Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, Madrid 2003.
personal data
SURNAME Espín y Guillén, Joaquín
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish composer and musician
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH Velilla de Medinaceli
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 1881
Place of death Madrid