Nicolau Guanyabens i Giral
Nicolau Guanyabens i Giral , also: Nicolau Guanyabens i Giralt (born December 12, 1826 in Mataró , † January 8, 1889 in Palma ) was a Catalan composer, doctor and businessman. He is the composer and lyricist of the popular Catalan sailor's song La Calma de la Mar , The calm of the sea , reproduced more accurately in terms of the content of the song: Never trust the calm of the sea!
Guanyabens was the son of a long-established family of merchants from Mataró with a long tradition in sea trade. He gained his first musical experience in the school of the Pia de Mataró school . Although he was still very young, he was already composing some pieces of music by this time. He studied flute, guitar and composition by himself. Out of interest in his parents' business, he studied trade and seafaring in order to be able to pursue the profession of businessman. After this training, he worked for some time as a skipper on a merchant ship.
In 1854 a cholera epidemic broke out in Mataró . Guanyabens saw the good opportunities for intervention that homeopathy according to Samuel Hahnemann offered against this epidemic. Influenced by his father, who also highly valued homeopathy, Nicolau treated and healed many sick people, as reported in the press at the time. From 1869 he studied medicine in Saragossa and in 1871 he qualified as a doctor and surgeon. In 1874 he went to Palma de Mallorca, where he worked as a homeopath and healed many patients. In 1876 he returned to Mataró for family reasons. He worked there with his son Manuel as a homeopathic doctor.
In his free time, Guanyabens devoted himself to the musical composition of Zarzuelas and religious works. He wrote a Te Deum and a Stabat mater . In 1858 he wrote La Calma , a barcarole for voice and piano, which he dedicated to the pianist and composer Jaume Biscarri i Bossom de Saga . This piece - somewhat simplified in the melody - became extremely popular as a sea shanty in Catalonia. It is now considered the Catalan shanty La Calma de la Mar known. On May 12, 1859 he achieved his greatest musical success with the first performance of the opera Arnaldo de Erill in the Italian style in the Liceu of Barcelona. The libretto for this opera was by Joan Cortada i Sala .
In January 1889 Guanyabens died while visiting his daughter in Palma, who was married there to the painter Joan Bauzà .
Web links
- Enciclopèdia.cat: Nicolau Guanyabens i Giral. Retrieved December 22, 2017 (Catalan).
- Galeriametges.cat: Nicolau Guanyabens i Giralt. Retrieved December 22, 2017 (Catalan).
- Nicolau Guañabens i Calvet: La música de Nicolau Guañabens i Giralt . In: Fulls del Museu Arxiu de Santa Maria . No. 15 , 1982, ISSN 2385-3700 , pp. 15-25 (Catalan, raco.cat [accessed December 22, 2017]). (Download PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The daily life data are based on: Nicolau Guañabens i Calvet: La música de Nicolau Guañabens i Giralt.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Guanyabens i Giral, Nicolau |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Guanyabens i Giralt, Nicolau |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Catalan composer, doctor and businessman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 12, 1826 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mataró |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 8, 1889 |
| Place of death | Palma |