Tomás Bretón
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Tomás Bretón (December 29, 1850 – December 2, 1923), was a Spanish musician and composer. Throughout his entire life, Tomás Bretón was a well-known and highly-esteemed composer, especially as a result of the success of his sainete La verbena de la Paloma, although other works were well-received by audiences and critics, such as his óperas Los amantes de Teruel and La Dolores. After his death however, he was a forgotten figure, his extensive and interesting output remaining solely in the memory of a few. His career spanned the majority of the musical areas of the period of the Restoration (1875-1923): Conservatorium Director, reputed orchestral conductor, composer of óperas, zarzuelas, symphonic and chamber music, and always an ardent defendor of dignifying music in Spain, within an environment unfavourable to the noble ideas which he passionately defended.
His principal mission was the creation of a Spanish ópera, which would form the basic foundation of national music. He not only expressed these ideas in his many writings, but composed a series of works throughout practically his whole career which reflectec them, from Guzmán el bueno (1876) to Tabaré (1913). His series of nine óperas, two of them in only one act, form one of the most ambitious bodies of work in this genre among Spanish composers of his time. After a long polemic which delayed its première, Los amantes de Teruel (1889) amounted to its definitive consolidation, and was followed by proposals along very different lines, such as the Wagnerian in Garín (1892) for the Barcelona Liceo and the veristic in La Dolores (1894) for the Madrilenian Teatro de la Zarzuela. His last works, despite being tied to a strong nineteenth-century tradition, contain undeniable interest, such as Raquel (1900), based on the famous romantic drama, Farinelli (1902), composed for the failed Teatro Lírico project, Tabaré (1913), set in America, and Don Gil de las calzas verdes (1914), based on a comedy by Tirso de Molina.
Parallelly, he approached the world of zarzuela with unequal success. His output, although not very extensive when compared to that of his contemporaries Chapí, Giménez and Fernández Caballero, is of great quality, given the variety of genres which he tackled. He made several attempts at composing in the zarzuela grande genre, both in a more traditional line than previous generations in works such El campanero de Begoña (1878) and Los amores de un príncipe (1881), and at the end of the century in the Circo de Parish, with El clavel rojo (1899) and Covadonga (1901), where he adopted more modern procedures, within the limitartions of the genre. His greatest fame came from the género chico, especially La verbena de la Paloma (1894), one of the most famous play of Spanish repertoire, although he later composed many other sainetes which were not as successful. On the other hand, he wrote symphonic music with a singular insistence, at a time in which in Spain, orchestral ensembles barely existed. He composed and conducted numerous works for the Sociedad de Conciertos, of which he was chief conductor from 1885 to 1890. A result of this were his three symphonies (1872, 1883, 1905), revealing a strong assimilation of Beethoven’s compositional techniques. His most successful works were those with a Sapanish character, albeit in an Alhambristic vein –such as En la Alhambra (1887)– or a more danceable one, as in Escenas andaluzas (1894). During his last years he composes various symphonic poems with a clear, nostalgic character, such as Los galeotes (1905) based on the famous Quixote episode, and Salamanca (1916) on popular themes from his native region. In the chamber-music genre he has left us various works, including three quartets (one of which is published), as well as a trio and quintet, composed from markedly classical standpoints, influenced by the French world of de Saint-Saens. His wide musical knowledge led him to tackle many other fields such as song, including a song-cycle based on Bécquer’s rhymes (1886), which was followed by Las golondrinas, and the oratorio El Apocalipsis (1882) composed in Rome as one of the works written under the Academy scholarship requirements.
All this makes Tomás Bretón one of the main figures in Spanish music of his time, not only because of his intense and varied activity, but also because of the quality of his works, some of which have remained unjustly forgotten, eclipsed by the crushing success of La verbena de la Paloma, which is merely a part of his magnificent output, reflected in a further 120 works catalogued.
TOMÁS BRETÓN (1850-1923) – BIOGRAPHY
1850 Born in Salamanca on 29 December, in a family in poverty.
1858 Began studying music at the Escuela de Nobles y Bellas Artes de San Eloy in Salamanca. His mother bought him his first violin after a great economical effort.
1865 Moved to Madrid and joined the orchestra of the Teatro Variedades. Lost his job, surviving as a violinist in the Café del Vapor and the Orquesta de la Sociedad de Conciertos de Madrid.
1872 Awarded joint-first prize in composition at the Conservatorio de Madrid, shared with Chapí.
1873 Composed his first zarzuelas for various Madrilenian theatres.
1874 The Sociedad de Conciertos premièred his Symphony no. 1 in F Major.
1876 Successful première of his first ópera Guzmán el Bueno in the Teatro Apolo.
1878 Founded a new orchestra in Madrid called Unión Artístico-Musical.
1880 Married Dolores Matheu. Travelled to Lisbon with the Unión Artístico-Musical.
1881 Moved to Rome, as a scholarship-holder of the Spanish Academy in Rome.
1882 Completed the composition of his oratorio El Apocalípsis in Rome. Travelled to various Italian cities: Naples, Venice, Milan.
1883 Moved to Vienna, where he completed his Symphony no. 2 in Eb Major.
1884 Began composing Los amantes de Teruel in Paris, which he completed upon his return to Madrid.
1885 A tough polemic regarding his ópera brooke out, when a commission headed by Emilio Arrieta refused to première it in the Teatro Real de Madrid. Accepted the post of conductor of the Sociedad de Conciertos de Madrid.
1889 Finally, he successfully premièred Los amantes de Teruel in the Teatro Real, and it was applauded a short time later in the Liceo of Barcelona.
1892 Successful première of his opera Garín in the Liceo of Barcelona.
1894 Unexpectedly composed the sainete La verbena de la Paloma, which was enormously successful in the Teatro Apolo. The Sociedad de Conciertos premièred his Escenas andaluzas.
1895 The Spanish ópera La Dolores, set in Aragón, was a new and outstanding succes.
1896 Entered the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, with an address about national ópera.
1899 Contributed to the Circo de Parish’s grand zarzuela project with El clavel rojo.
1900 His ópera Raquel was coldly received in the Teatro Real.
1901 Named Director of the Conservatorio de Madrid. Première of Covadonga in the Parish.
1902 Parcipated in the failed attempt of the Teatro Lírico (Spanish Opera Theatre) which his ópera Farinelli, set in time of the famous castrati.
1904 His first string quartet is premiéred in Madrid.
1910 Travelled to Argentina with a Spanish ópera company.
1913 Despite the favourable audience reception of his ópera Tabaré, set in Uruguay in sixteenth century, it was only performed three times in the Teatro Real.
1914 Première in the Teatro Tívoli of Barcelona of his ópera Don Gil de las calzas verdes, based on the work by Tirso de Molina.
1916 Première in his native city of the symphonic poem Salamanca, based on popular songs.
1917 Death of his wife Dolores Matheu. Composed Elegía y añoranzas, an autobiographical symphonic poem based on themes from earlier works.
1919 Addressed an essay in favour of Spanish ópera to the government.
1923 Died in Madrid on 2 December, his funeral causing great commotion.
[edit] References
– Víctor Sánchez Sánchez: Tomás Bretón. Un músico de la Restauración. Madrid: Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, 2002.
