Federico Chueca
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
s and author of La gran vía along with Joaquín Valverde Durán
Joaquín Valverde Durán
Joaquín Valverde Durán was a Spanish composer, conductor and flautist. As a composer he is known for his collaborations with other composers on zarzuelas...
in 1886. Chueca was one of the most prominent figures of the género chico
Género chico
Género chico is a Spanish genre of short light musical plays. It is a subgenre of zarzuela, the Spanish operetta...
.
Born in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Chueca entered the conservatory
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
at eight years old, but his family later obligated him to abandon music to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. He was arrested in 1866 as a participant in the student demonstrations against the Narváez government. While he spent three days in the prison of San Francisco in Madrid, he composed several waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es that he entitled Lamentos de un preso ("Lamentations of a Prisoner"). Later, Francisco Asenjo Barbieri
Francisco Asenjo Barbieri
Francisco Asenjo Barbieri 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...
helped orchestrate and direct the works, and their success helped Chueca leave medicine and devote himself once more to music.
He worked as a pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and directed the orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
of the Teatro Variedades. Chueca had an intuitive grace with melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
that produced many works. Yet, he was more schooled in the sciences than in music, and thus always worked with a collaborator like the aforementioned Barbieri, Tomás Bretón
Tomás Bretón
Tomás Bretón was a Spanish musician and composer.-Biography:Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca.He gained renown as a result of the success of his zarzuela La verbena de la Paloma, although other were well-received works, included his operas Los amantes de Teruel, based on the eponymous legend,...
, and especially Valverde, who harmonized and orchestrated many of his works.
Works
Among the many zarzuelas that Chueca wrote, some of the most notable are:- La canción de la Lola (1880)
- La Gran Vía (1886)
- Cádiz (1886)
- El año pasado por agua (1889)
- El chaleco blanco (1890)
- Agua, azucarillos y aguardiente (1897)
- La alegría de la huerta (1900)
- El bateo (1901)