Composer
Biography
Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the late Classical and early Romantic periods, born in 1778 and died in 1839. Best known today for his solo guitar works, he also wrote an opera, three symphonies, piano pieces, songs, a Mass, and two successful ballets, including Cinderella, which received over a hundred performances. He came from Barcelona and was schooled at the monastery of Montserrat under Anselm Viola, in church music, composition and orchestral playing alike. Leaving Spain in 1813, he worked in Paris and London, travelled as far as Moscow and settled at last in Paris; the guitar works of those years include the Grand Solo, the Variations on a Theme by Mozart and graded collections of studies and lessons, to which he added a method for the instrument, Italian ariettas and Spanish seguidillas.