Francisco Asenjo Barbieri

Francisco Asenjo Barbieri

born on 3/8/1823 in Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

died on 17/2/1894 in Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Francisco Asenjo Barbieri

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (3 August 1823 17[1] or 19 February 1894) was a well-known composer of the popular Spanish opera form, zarzuela. His works include: El barberillo de Lavapiés, Jugar con fuego, Pan y toros, Don Quijote, Los diamantes de la corona, and El Diablo en el poder.

He was born and died in Madrid, appropriately, since the themes are characters of his operas are often distinctly Spanish and Madrileñan. Among the characters featured by Barbieri are bullfighters, manolos and manolas, and even (in Pan y toros) the famous Spanish painter, Francisco Goya.

The character of much of Barbieris work is farcical, utilizing mistaken identity and other devices to entertain the audience. His themes deal largely with the ins and outs of love, and the relations between the upper and lower classes in nineteenth-century Spain, but there is also a distinct political character to much of his work. The zarzuelas Barberillo and Pan both contain plots to overthrow the government.

In addition to his compositions, Barbieri was also an accomplished musician. He was the founder of La España Musical (a society for the promotion of Spanish operetta) and the Society for Orchestral Music.

References

  1. Henken, John Edwin. "Barbieri, Francisco Asenjo" from The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
  • Webber, Christopher. The Zarzuela Companion. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2002.

External links

  • Free scores by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri in the International Music Score Library Project
This page was last modified 07.10.2013 21:07:20

This article uses material from the article Francisco Asenjo Barbieri from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.