Jesús Guridi
Encyclopedia
Jesús Guridi Bidaola was a Spanish
Basque
composer, and is a key player in the Spanish and Basque music of the twentieth century. His style fits into what we might call the late romantic stamp, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a strong influence from the Basque culture. Among his best known works are the operetta “El Caserío”, the opera “Amaya”, the orchestral work “Ten Basque melodies” and his organ works, where the “Triptych of the Good Shepherd” can be highlighted.
and the Jesuits of Zaragoza
, he moved to Madrid
, where he received lessons from Arina Valentin.
Later, in Bilbao
, he was involved in the activities of the society called "El Cuartito". He received violin lessons from Lope Alana and studied harmony with José Sáinz Besabe. On 28 January 1901 he gave his first public concert with the Philharmonic Society of Bilbao. At the age of 18 he enrolled in the Schola Cantorum in Paris, studying organ with Abel Decaux, composition with Auguste Sérieyx, and fugue and counterpoint with Vincent d'Indy
. Here he met Jose Maria Usandizaga
with whom he developed a deep friendship.
He then moved to Brussels
where he studied with Joseph Jongen
and in Cologne
with Otto Neitzel
, following the recommendations of Resurrección Maria de Azcue. In June 1912 he was appointed director of the Bilbao Choral Society
. In the same year his friend Usandizaga died.
In 1922 he married Julia Ispizua. The couple had six children: Maria Jesus, Luis Fernando, Maria Isabel, Ignacio, Julia, and Javier. In 1944 he began working at the Madrid Conservatory, where, years later, he became director.
He died suddenly on 7 April 1961 at the age of 74 years in his home on Sagasta Street in Madrid.
and other late-Romantic musicians, he found inspiration in the roots of Basque folklore
in his first scores, and which later give body and soul to his compositions. Guridi produced copiously in a huge range of genres. From chamber music (string quartets), vocal and choral compositions, orchestral works, religious pieces for the organ, operas (Mirentxu and Amaya) and operettas (El caserio, La meiga, etc.). Among his works are: El Caserio (1926), Diez melodias Vascas (1940), Así cantan los chicos (1909), Amaya (1920), Mirentxu (1910), Una aventura de Don Quixote (1916), La meiga (1929 ) Seis canciones castellanas (1939), Pyrenean Symphony (1945), and Homenaje a Walt Disney, for piano and orchestra (1956).
Guridi’s music writing is characterized by the clarity of its formal organization, by the strength and richness of its harmony and the inspiration of the melodies. He was one of the main creators of the musical nationalism in Euskadi and Spain.
These are some of his most important works:
It is also worth mentioning La Meiga (by the same authors), La Cautiva (The Captive, by LF Seville and A. Carreño), released in 1931, Mandolinata (A. C. de la Vega, 1934) and Mari-Eli, Basque operetta (E. Carlos and Arniches Garay, 1936) as well as the lyrical La bengala (The flare, by L. Weaver and J. Hollow, 1939), Peñamariana (Romero and Fernandez Shaw, 1944), and Acuarelas vascas (Basque Watercolours, 1948).
Guridi was appointed professor of organ and harmony at the Institute of Music of Bizkaia in 1922, and in 1944 he won by opposition the organ national chair of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, which in 1956 would become director. He served for years as organist of the Church of San Manuel and San Benito, Madrid.
In 1909, when he was still very young, he won the Gold Medal in the Valencia Regional Exhibition, with his Fantasy for great organ, a piece composed between 1906 and 1907 and premiered by Guridi himself. Also in 1909 he composed an Interlude and in 1917 he wrote another Fantasy, that was published under the title Prelude and Fantasy.
In 1922 he composed Cuadros vascos (Basque scenes), for chorus and orchestra, and adapted, for solo organ, the Espatadantza (traditional Basque dance) contained in this work. He also adapted for organ Four Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio in 1953.
In 1948 he composed Variations on a Basque theme, which consists of nine variations on the popular song Itsasoa laino dago (There is fog on the sea), contained in Resurrección Mª de Azkue’s Songbook.
In 1951, Guridi grouped twenty short and not difficult of execution pieces for organ teaching approach under the title Spanish School of Organ (1. Introducción - 2. Capriccio - 3. Cantinela - 4. Himno - 5. Improvisación - 6. Canción vasca - 7. Salida - 8. Interludio - 9. Plegaria - 10. Preludio - 11. Pastorela - 12. Villancico - 13. Glosa (Puer natus est) - 14. Éxtasis - 15. Fuga - 16. Adagio - 17. Ave Maria - 18. Ofertorio I - 19. Ofertorio II - 20. Tocata).
In 1953 he wrote the beautiful Triptych of the Good Shepherd ("The Flock ", "The Lost Sheep" and "The Good Shepherd"), surely his masterpiece in this field, which won the first prize in the composition competition organized by Organería Española because of the inauguration of the new organ of the Good Shepherd Cathedral in San Sebastián
. Guridi himself premiered his "Triptych" the 20th of January of 1954 in this temple. The other composers awarded in the competition were Tomás Garbizu, Luis Urteaga and José María Nemesio Otaño. In 2007, the concert offered by these composers the 19th and 20th of January of 1954 was reproduced, and the concert ended with the work of Guridi.
Shortly before his death in 1960, he composed a Final for organ, composition of great character in the line of the French master Charles Marie Widor.
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...
Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
composer, and is a key player in the Spanish and Basque music of the twentieth century. His style fits into what we might call the late romantic stamp, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a strong influence from the Basque culture. Among his best known works are the operetta “El Caserío”, the opera “Amaya”, the orchestral work “Ten Basque melodies” and his organ works, where the “Triptych of the Good Shepherd” can be highlighted.
Biography
Guridi was born in Vitoria into a family of musicians. His mother, Maria Trinidad Bidaola, was a violinist and his father, Lorenzo Guridi, was a pianist. After completing his early studies with the PiaristsPiarists
The Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools or, in short, Piarists , is the name of the oldest Catholic educational order also known as the Scolopi, Escolapios or Poor Clerics of the Mother of God...
and the Jesuits of Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
, he moved to 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...
, where he received lessons from Arina Valentin.
Later, in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, he was involved in the activities of the society called "El Cuartito". He received violin lessons from Lope Alana and studied harmony with José Sáinz Besabe. On 28 January 1901 he gave his first public concert with the Philharmonic Society of Bilbao. At the age of 18 he enrolled in the Schola Cantorum in Paris, studying organ with Abel Decaux, composition with Auguste Sérieyx, and fugue and counterpoint with Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
. Here he met Jose Maria Usandizaga
Jose Maria Usandizaga
José María Usandizaga was a Spanish Basque composer.A native of San Sebastián, Usandizaga began his musical studies in his hometown before moving to the Schola Cantorum in Paris. There, he was a composition pupil of Vincent d'Indy, and he took piano lessons from Gabriel Grovlez...
with whom he developed a deep friendship.
He then moved to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
where he studied with Joseph Jongen
Joseph Jongen
Marie-Alphonse-Nicolas-Joseph Jongen was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator.-Biography:Jongen was born in Liège. On the strength of an amazing precocity for music, he was admitted to the Liège Conservatoire at the extraordinarily young age of seven, and spent the next sixteen years...
and in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
with Otto Neitzel
Otto Neitzel
Otto Neitzel was a German composer, pianist, writer on music, and lecturer. Neitzel was born in the town of Falkenburg in Farther Pomerania ....
, following the recommendations of Resurrección Maria de Azcue. In June 1912 he was appointed director of the Bilbao Choral Society
Sociedad Coral de Bilbao
The Bilbao Choral Society is an association devoted to fostering musical activity. Founded in 1886 under the name "Orfeón Bilbaíno", the Bilbao Choir is a non-profit cultural association declared "of General Interest" by the Basque Autonomous Government...
. In the same year his friend Usandizaga died.
In 1922 he married Julia Ispizua. The couple had six children: Maria Jesus, Luis Fernando, Maria Isabel, Ignacio, Julia, and Javier. In 1944 he began working at the Madrid Conservatory, where, years later, he became director.
He died suddenly on 7 April 1961 at the age of 74 years in his home on Sagasta Street in Madrid.
Musical style
Strongly influenced by Richard WagnerRichard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and other late-Romantic musicians, he found inspiration in the roots of Basque folklore
Basque music
The strict classification of Basque music remains a controversial issue, complicated in part by the growing diversification of such music, but by and large it is made in the Basque Country, it reflects traits related to that society/tradition and it is devised by people from the Basque...
in his first scores, and which later give body and soul to his compositions. Guridi produced copiously in a huge range of genres. From chamber music (string quartets), vocal and choral compositions, orchestral works, religious pieces for the organ, operas (Mirentxu and Amaya) and operettas (El caserio, La meiga, etc.). Among his works are: El Caserio (1926), Diez melodias Vascas (1940), Así cantan los chicos (1909), Amaya (1920), Mirentxu (1910), Una aventura de Don Quixote (1916), La meiga (1929 ) Seis canciones castellanas (1939), Pyrenean Symphony (1945), and Homenaje a Walt Disney, for piano and orchestra (1956).
His work
Despite his intense activity as a choir director, as a teacher and, above all, as an organist, Guridi was largely devoted to the composition. The variety of genres he cultivated is very wide, ranging from symphonic music to film incidental music, operas and operettas, chamber music, choral music, songs and music for children.Guridi’s music writing is characterized by the clarity of its formal organization, by the strength and richness of its harmony and the inspiration of the melodies. He was one of the main creators of the musical nationalism in Euskadi and Spain.
These are some of his most important works:
Opera
His best known opera is Amaya (libretto by Joseph M. Arroita Jáuregui), released at the Coliseo Albia in Bilbao in 1920, and also Mirentxu (libretto by Alfred Etxabe), released in Bilbao in 1910.Operetta
Probably his best known zarzuela and work is El Caserío (The farmhouse, libretto by Guillermo Fernández Shaw and Federico Romero), premiered in Madrid in 1926.It is also worth mentioning La Meiga (by the same authors), La Cautiva (The Captive, by LF Seville and A. Carreño), released in 1931, Mandolinata (A. C. de la Vega, 1934) and Mari-Eli, Basque operetta (E. Carlos and Arniches Garay, 1936) as well as the lyrical La bengala (The flare, by L. Weaver and J. Hollow, 1939), Peñamariana (Romero and Fernandez Shaw, 1944), and Acuarelas vascas (Basque Watercolours, 1948).
Orchestra
On orchestral music, his most famous work is Ten Basque melodies (1940). He also composed Basque Legend in 1915, the symphonic poem An Adventure of Don Quixote (1916) and En un barco fenicio (In a Phoenician ship), in 1927. In 1945 he composed his Pyrenees Symphony and, in 1956, Tribute to Walt Disney Fantasy for piano and orchestra.Choral music
Vocal music is also present in Guridi’s work. Six Castilian Songs, composed in 1939, can be highlighted. Other Guridi’s choral works are: So the children sing (1915), for chorus and orchestra, Euskal folkloreko XXII Abesti (Basque popular songs, 1932), Basque Songs (1956), Boga boga (Popular Basque, 1913), Anton Aizkorri (1913), Ator, ator mutil (Christmas Eve Song, 1920), Mass in honor of the Archangel Gabriel, for chorus and organ (1955), Mass in honor of San Ignacio de Loyola, (3 voices and organ, 1922), Requiem Mass for chorus and organ (1918), Te Deum, for chorus and organ (1937), Ave Maria (1907), Hail, for gold and organ (1916), Tantum ergo, for choir and organ (1915) and Basque Folk Songs, for chorus of mixed voices (1913-1923).Piano and Chamber Music
They are also noteworthy creations of incidental music for film and his work for solo piano, which include Old Dances (1939), 8 Notes For Piano (1954), Ten Basque melodies, Lamento e imprecación de Agar (1958), Piano Pieces (1905), Three short pieces (1910) and Vasconia (1924). He also cultivated chamber music, and he wrote two string quartets, Quartet in G major (1934) and Quartet in A minor (1949).Organ
The organ was probably Guridi’s favourite instrument, in his role as a performer and as a teacher. In fact, he was a master on improvisation and he remained active as an organist until the end of his days.Guridi was appointed professor of organ and harmony at the Institute of Music of Bizkaia in 1922, and in 1944 he won by opposition the organ national chair of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, which in 1956 would become director. He served for years as organist of the Church of San Manuel and San Benito, Madrid.
In 1909, when he was still very young, he won the Gold Medal in the Valencia Regional Exhibition, with his Fantasy for great organ, a piece composed between 1906 and 1907 and premiered by Guridi himself. Also in 1909 he composed an Interlude and in 1917 he wrote another Fantasy, that was published under the title Prelude and Fantasy.
In 1922 he composed Cuadros vascos (Basque scenes), for chorus and orchestra, and adapted, for solo organ, the Espatadantza (traditional Basque dance) contained in this work. He also adapted for organ Four Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio in 1953.
In 1948 he composed Variations on a Basque theme, which consists of nine variations on the popular song Itsasoa laino dago (There is fog on the sea), contained in Resurrección Mª de Azkue’s Songbook.
In 1951, Guridi grouped twenty short and not difficult of execution pieces for organ teaching approach under the title Spanish School of Organ (1. Introducción - 2. Capriccio - 3. Cantinela - 4. Himno - 5. Improvisación - 6. Canción vasca - 7. Salida - 8. Interludio - 9. Plegaria - 10. Preludio - 11. Pastorela - 12. Villancico - 13. Glosa (Puer natus est) - 14. Éxtasis - 15. Fuga - 16. Adagio - 17. Ave Maria - 18. Ofertorio I - 19. Ofertorio II - 20. Tocata).
In 1953 he wrote the beautiful Triptych of the Good Shepherd ("The Flock ", "The Lost Sheep" and "The Good Shepherd"), surely his masterpiece in this field, which won the first prize in the composition competition organized by Organería Española because of the inauguration of the new organ of the Good Shepherd Cathedral in San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
. Guridi himself premiered his "Triptych" the 20th of January of 1954 in this temple. The other composers awarded in the competition were Tomás Garbizu, Luis Urteaga and José María Nemesio Otaño. In 2007, the concert offered by these composers the 19th and 20th of January of 1954 was reproduced, and the concert ended with the work of Guridi.
Shortly before his death in 1960, he composed a Final for organ, composition of great character in the line of the French master Charles Marie Widor.
Further reading
- Menéndez Aleyxandre, A., and Antoni Pizà. 2001. "Guridi (Bidaola), Jesús". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
and John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (professor of music)John Tyrrell was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. He studied at the universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Brno. In 2000 he was appointed Research Professor at Cardiff University....
. London: Macmillan Publishers.