José María Usandizaga, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJosé María Usandizaga
Spanish composer
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Donostia-San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain
About José María Usandizaga
- José María Usandizaga (1887–1915) 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.
- From 1906 he was back in Spain, where he won success with his works for the stage and a number of other pieces.
- Usandizaga succumbed to tuberculosis in 1915. Most of Usandizaga's music is based on Basque themes; among his works are several chamber pieces, some rhapsodies, and the operas Mendi Mendiyan ("High in the Mountains", a Basque language folk opera) and Las golondrinas ("The Swallows", initially a zarzuela which was arranged as an opera after the composer's death by his brother).
- A third opera, the lyric drama La llama ("The Flame"), was left incomplete after his death; this, too was completed by his brother.
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