Joaquim Malats i Miarons

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Joaquim Malats portrayed by Ramon Casas
Joaquim Malats on the piano photographed by Pau Audoard (before 1900)

Joaquim Malats i Miarons (born March 5, 1872 in Sant Andreu de Palomar (today in Barcelona), † October 22, 1912 in Barcelona ) was a Catalan classical pianist and composer who stood in the tradition of the Catalan School of Pianists .

life and work

The early years

Joaquim Malals was the second of four children to be born into a middle-class family. Although his parents had to look after the money, they gave Joaquim and his older brother private music lessons. The father in particular later vehemently advocated that Joaquim should continue his music studies in a phase of doubt and not give up in favor of a carpenter apprenticeship.

Malats began studying solfège and piano with Miquel Alsina in October 1908 . At the end of 1881 he was still tutored by Teodor Vilar , who enabled the nine-year-old to interpret demanding classical works purely on the piano. As early as 1885, when he was thirteen, Malats performed publicly in a concert at the Institut de Foment del Treball Nacional de Barcelona (Institute for Economic Development in Barcelona). Here he interpreted the sonata op. 49 and the Adagio of the moonlight sonata op. 27-2 by Ludwig van Beethoven , a rondo by Felix Mendelssohn and the perpetual motion machine by Carl Maria von Weber . During these early years, Malats developed a solid technique based on meticulous accuracy in articulation and knowledge of the stylistic characteristics of the works of the various composers to be performed.

After making rapid progress with his teachers Alsina, Vilar and Goberna, he moved to Joan Baptista Pujol at the Escola Municipal de Música de Barcelona in 1886 . Already in 1887 he was allowed to take part in a competition of the Conservatory due to his outstanding achievements and immediately achieved a second place behind Ricardo Viñes . After a highly successful second year of studies, he won first prize in the graduation competition and received his academic degree.

Paris - Conservatory and Career

He then received a scholarship from the city of Barcelona for postgraduate studies with Charles-Wilfred de Bériot at the Paris Conservatory. At the end of 1888, Malats went to the Paris Conservatory to study. In 1893 he won first prize in the piano competition at this conservatory. Anton Rubinstein was the chairman of the jury for this competition .

He began his concert career in Paris, where he initially settled for a few years after completing his studies. From 1897 he also gave concerts in Madrid and Barcelona. Above all in Barcelona he has performed in duets with Enrique Granados , CG Vidiella and with Camille Saint-Saëns . In 1903 he won the prestigious Diémer Prize at the Paris Conservatory. In the public perception he finally moved up into the ranks of the best pianists in Europe. From 1905, highly successful tours throughout Europe and the United States followed. His absolute bravura in concerts was the Iberia Suite by Albéniz.

The last years 1910 to 1912

From 1910, Malat's last phase of life followed. In the meantime he held a lectureship for piano and organ at the Conservatori de Música i Declamació de Madrid . Malats was a teacher at this conservatory for two years. But his health began to deteriorate significantly. In the end, he could no longer carry out his teaching assignment normally. The date on which Malats had to stop teaching piano classes can no longer be precisely determined. Malats died on October 22, 1912 at his home in Barcelona. He was buried in the Cementiri de Sant Andreu in Barcelona. On October 1st, 1913, the Oslè brothers put a plaque on his house.

Works by Joaquim Malats

Malats composed the following piano works: Barcarola (1896); Babillage (1899); Napoli (1899); Capriccio; two mazurcas; Sonata española; Vals Caprice. He also wrote the suites Impresiones de España No. 1 and 2 and the concerto for piano and orchestra (unfinished), as chamber music a trio for piano, violin and violoncello and the piece Canto de amor for piano and voice.

Discography

  • VAI Audio, 1992, VAIA / IPA 1001: The Catalan Piano Tradition. (CD with historical piano recordings by Joaquim Malats as a pianist (with details of the CD track), cylinder recordings from around 1903: Malats: No. 4: Serenata in F major; No. 5: Chopin: Waltz Op. 64 in C minor; No. 6: Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13. A minor; No. 7: Wagner-Liszt: Isolde's Liebes Tod)

swell

  • Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana: Joaquim Malats i Miarons. Retrieved February 2, 2019 (Catalan).
  • Gran Encilopèdia de la Música: Joaquim Malats i Miarons. Retrieved February 2, 2019 (Catalan).
  • García Martínez, Paula: El pianista y compositor Joaquín Malats y Miarons (1872-1912) . Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, S. 2007 .
  • García Martínez, Paula: Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872–1912) . In: Cuadros de Música Iberoamericana. Órgano científico del instituto complutense de ciencias musicales . tape 16 , 2008, p. 111-142 .
  • Fukushima, Mutsumi: El piano en Barcelona entre 1880 y 1936 . Tesis doctoral. 2008.

See also

Web links

Commons : Joaquim Malats  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual references and comments

  1. ↑ The chapters The Early Years and The Last Years , including the documents, are taken from the Catalan Wikipedia article of the same name. The rest of the information comes from the articles in the Enciclopèdia Catalana and the Gran Enciclopèdia de la Música .
  2. ↑ Generalitat de Catalunya - Culturcat (web archive): Catalan musicians (19th Century AC - 20th Century AC). Retrieved January 21, 2019 . There is a section on the Catalan Pianist School .
  3. ↑ García Martínez, Paula. El pianista y compositor Joaquín Malats y Miarons (1872-1912). Oviedo: Universidad de Oviedo. 2007. page 22.
  4. ^ A b García Martínez, Paula: Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872-1912). Page 113.
  5. ^ Fukushima, Mutsumi: El piano en Barcelona entre 1880 y 1936. Tesis doctoral. 2008. page 331.
  6. ^ A b García Martínez, Paula: Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872-1912). Page 114.
  7. ↑ García Martínez, Paula: Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872-1912). Page 116.
  8. ↑ Gran Enciclopèdia de la Música.
  9. ↑ Section after: Gran Enciclopèdia de la Música.
  10. ↑ García Martínez, Paula: Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872-1912), page 139.
  11. ^ García Martínez, Paula: Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872-1912), page 141.
  12. ^ García Martínez, Paula: Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872-1912), page 142.
personal data
SURNAME Malats i Miarons, Joaquim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan classical pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Sant Andreu de Palomar (now part of Barcelona)
DATE OF DEATH October 22, 1912
Place of death Barcelona