by Olga Morral Bisbal
Jaume Padrós Montoriol (Igualada, August 26, 1926 – Santa Susanna de Riner, April 15, 2007) was a Catalan pianist, composer and educator. He was the third of five siblings and received his first music lessons from Joan Just in his hometown. Following the Spanish Civil War, he joined the Montserrat Choir School, then under the direction of David Pujol, where he continued his musical studies in singing, piano and organ. After two and a half years of dedicated music education, in 1942, he moved to Barcelona to study at the Liceu Conservatory and the Marshall Academy, where he received piano lessons from Frank Marshall, disciple of Enric Granados and teacher of Alicia de Larrocha, and composition lessons from Josep Barberà. Upon completing his studies, he joined the academy as a piano teacher.
In 1945, Padrós composed his first piano work, Poema romántico, which he performed in public at the request of his mentor Frank Marshall. The admiration for this composition by Marshall, a respected musical authority at the time, justifies considering this work as the beginning of Padrós’s initial compositional phase. In the post-war period, the arrival of Cristòfor Taltabull in Barcelona was a spark of hope for young musicians who sought composition lessons at his home. Starting in 1947, Padrós began studying composition with him, which was a decisive influence on his creative work. After his early Romantic compositions, Padrós’s subsequent works, mainly pieces for piano and Lieder, showed a shift toward early 20th-century French music. From this period, belong works like the ballet Fantasia de circ (1951), Cloe i Lèlia (1948), two songs for soprano and piano, as well as the piano work Preludio y Danza Nº1 (1949), with the latter being premiered in 1950 by the distinguished pianist Alicia de Larrocha.
Padrós’s first compositional phase ended in 1954 with the tonal rupture in his piano work Sonata, for which he won the composition prize from Joventuts Musicals in Barcelona in 1955. This change in his compositional style resulted from his immersion in the music of the Second Viennese School. During the 1953-54 season, patron Josep Bartomeu organized a concert series titled Arnold Schönberg i la seva escola, and Jaume Padrós participated as a pianist. Padrós’s exposure to works from the New Viennese School was pivotal for his artistic development.
In the 1955-56 academic year, Jaume Padrós moved to Paris with a scholarship from the French government to study composition with Darius Milhaud. Subsequently, in 1956, he settled in Ulm, a German city that would become his permanent residence, a place of great importance for his artistic output. In addition to his recognition as a pianist performing Second Viennese School repertoire, Jaume Padrós promoted Catalan and Spanish repertoire in Germany. He introduced, among others, ancient works by Antoni Soler and Narcís Casanoves, as well as works by Isaac Albéniz and Enric Granados, and contemporary compositions by composers like Robert Gerhard and Joaquim Homs.
Traditional music, especially Catalan and Spanish, played a significant role in Padrós’s compositions, with influences from folklore evident mainly in the rhythmic aspects of his works and certain melodic motifs. In 1957, Jaume Padrós composed Zapateado, a piano piece that was commissioned by the dancer José de Udaeta, incorporating forms and motifs from Andalusian folklore. Two decades later, in 1979, he wrote Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, a ballet based on a poem by García Lorca, scored for 2 pianos, guitar, and percussion, commissioned by the municipal theatre of Ulm. This work also incorporates many elements of Andalusian popular music.
In Barcelona, the First International Music Festival organized by Joventuts Musicals and sponsored by the city council took place in 1963. This event continued until 1987 and featured a variety of styles and formats, with emphasis on contemporary Catalan music. In this inaugural festival, the pianist Alexander Jenner premiered Padrós’s work Llibre d’alquímies at the Palau de la Música, written specifically for the occasion. Three years later, the III International Music Festival of Barcelona commissioned another work from the composer, Tres Diferències per a ser cantades (1965), with text by Ausiàs March. The piece was performed again in 1968 at the Palau de la Música under the direction of Antoni Ros Marbà, featuring soprano Eva Marie Wolff.
In addition to his career as a performer and composer, Padrós was deeply committed to teaching. From 1964 to 1995, he worked as a piano professor at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen. Jaume Padrós never abandoned teaching and continued to give lessons at his home until shortly before his passing.
From the late 1960s to the late 1980s, Padrós collaborated in the planning of a series of concerts under the title Werk und Wiedergabe (Work and Interpretation), organized by the Volkshochschule of Ulm, which focused on contemporary music and lesser-known works. As a pianist, he participated in over thirty of these concerts.
In the early 1970s, Padrós first heard the accordionist Hugo Noth, who was also professor at the Trossingen Conservatory. In an interview published in Acordeón siglo XXI, Padrós mentioned that he was surprised because he had never imagined the accordion could sound so noble. Hearing Hugo Noth play challenged his preconceptions of the accordion as an instrument tied to a specific style and tradition. He realized that, in addition to folk and popular music, the accordion could also play classical music. The first work in which Padrós used the accordion is titled …über das Schöne und Passende (1972) for reciter, piano, accordion, harpsichord, and two drums, with text from the Confessions of Saint Augustine. This piece led to a series of composition commissions for accordion, both as a solo instrument and in ensembles. Altogether, Padrós composed 17 works for the accordion.
Padrós’s oeuvre encompasses over 90 titles, and the list of his compositions is available below.
List of compositions by Jaume Padrós
Early Works
- Poema romántico/El renunciament de Lídia/5 oracions (1945/1946) for piano
- Toccata/Vals Paròdia (1947/49) for piano
- Fuga/El rossinyol i la rosa/L’absència/Llàgrimes (de Uang-Seng-Yu)/Preguntant (1946/47/48/50) for soprano and piano
- Cloe i Lèlia/Es verdad/Canción de jinete/Tannkas del somni (1948/1950) for soprano and piano
- Estudio/Preludio y Danza Nº1/Preludio y Danza Nº2/Set boixos (1946/49/52) for piano
- Berceuse (1949) for violin and piano
- Fantasia de circ (1951) ballet, version for piano and for 2 pianos
- Fantasia de circ (1952) ballet for orchestra
Piano
- Sonata (1954) for piano
- 2 modalitats (1957) for piano
- Zapateado (1957) version for piano and for 2 pianos
- 6 Variationen (1960) for piano
- Gebündelte Klänge (1960-2004), Katalanisches Volksliedbuch for piano
- Lehre des Klavierspiels (1962) for piano
- Llibre d’alquímies I (1963) for piano
- Sobreposicions heptàtones (1966) for piano
- Llibre d’alquímies II (1971) for 2 pianos
Lieder
- 2 cançons populars catalanes (1956) for soprano and piano
- Erinnerung/Matutin (1956) for baritone and piano
- Cancionero del lugar (1956/57) for voice and piano
- Sternverdunkelung (1960) for soprano and piano
- El vendedor de globos (1964) for soprano and piano
- Was war, kehrt wieder (1999) for baritone or contralto and piano
Different Solo Instruments
- 5 Orgelstücke (1957) for organ
- Coplas (1963) for violin
- Tiento, Verso y Gallarda (1969) for organ
- Chacona (1976) for accordion
- Grisaille (1976) for G flute
- 3 homenajes (1982) for harpsichord
- Trama concèntrica (1982) variations for accordion
- Trilogía breve (1983) for accordion
- 3 Konzertetüden (1991) for accordion
Chamber Music
- Preludis breus a 9 poemes de Joan Maragall (1961) for 7 instruments
- Quintet (1962) for string quartet and piano
- El Plant de la Verge (1964) cantata for soprano, choir, 3 flutes, harpsichord, 2 violas, cello, and double bass
- Discurso y Eco (1966) for 6 wind instruments
- Sternverdunkelung (1969) 5 Lieder nach Gedichten von Nelly Sachs for soprano, flute, bass clarinet, bassoon, harp, and viola
- Von jetzt bis hin in die Zeit (1970) for soprano and organ
- Error celebrado y Discurso (XXII) de Juan de Zabaleta (1972) for soprano, oboe, viola, and cello
- Hexakis (1972) for flute and piano
- …über das Schöne und Passende (1973) for piano, harpsichord, accordion, 2 drums, and reciter
- Serenata (1974) for flute, cello, and accordion
- Nocturnos de la ventana (1975) for accordion, oboe, and double bass
- Elegia (1976) for soprano and string quartet
- Planctus (1977) for 2 guitars and accordion
- Polyeder (1978) for accordion and string trio
- Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (1979), ballet for 2 pianos, guitar, and percussion
- Policromies (1980) for accordion and piano
- Poemas de fragua (1984) for accordion and percussion
- Paseo y Contradanza (1985) for cello and accordion
- Epígrafes sonorizados (1986) for string quartet and accordion
- Fantasia niquelada (1989) for flute, piano, and percussion
- Triade (1989) for voice, wind quintet, and percussion
- Breviari rural (1991) for soprano, accordion, G flute, and cello
- Fanfare (1993) for 4 trumpets
- Azulejos (1995) for accordion and double bass
Orchestra
- Tema, Variacions i Giga (1954) for string orchestra
- 2 moviments (1956) for orchestra
- Atzavara (1957) cantata for soprano, baritone, small mixed choir, and string quartet
- Tres diferències per a ser cantades (1965) for soprano and orchestra
- Propis de Pentecostès (1968) for choir, soloists, organ, and string orchestra
- Exorcismes (1969) for string orchestra
- Música cambiante (1986) for piano and string orchestra
Sacred Choral Music
- Missa brevis (1955) for choir
- Breu Salve Regina (1956) for choir
- Proprium vom Feste des Hl. Erzengels Michael (1957)
- Hymnus „Jesu Redemptor omnium“ (1958) for choir and 10 wind instruments ad libitum
- Missa (1959) for choir
- Cantate Domino (1962) motet for four voices
- 7 deutsche Propriumsvertonungen (1962) for choir and organ ad libitum
- 5 Comuniones (1963) for choir
- Benedictus qui venit (1966) for choir
- Der Herr ist meine Stärke (1966) for choir
- Hymnus auf das Heilige Kreuz (1966) for choir
- Deutsches Messordinarium (1968) for choir, congregation, and organ
Secular Choral Music
- 2 cançons catalanes: El cavaller pelegrí / Venedor d’amor (1955/56) for choir
- 7 spanische und katalanische Volkslieder: La nina blanca / Serranilla / Segaba la nina / Canción de primavera / La filla del Carmesí / La pastora / La pastoreta (1955/56) for choir
- 7 spanische und katalanische Volkslieder: Albada / Caterina d’Alió / L’Angeleta / La filadora / Duérmete, niño mío / Margaridó / Me llamaste morenita (1956/61/65) for choir
- 4 canciones populares castellanas: A los árboles altos / Eres alta y delgada / La nina de la arena / Cuando sales al campo (1956/57/62) for choir
- 4 cançons populars catalanes: Cobles del ram / El cant dels ocells / La meva enamorada / El compte Arnau (1959/61/62) for choir
- 5 cançons populars catalanes: Adorm-te, nineta / Don Bertràn i Donya Maria / La Magdalena / La Mare de Déu / La presa de Roses (1965) for choir
- 2 jiddische Wiegenlieder: Slof, slof / Untern Kinds vigele (1992) for choir
Transcriptions
- Cancionero del lugar (1956/57) for voice and accordion, transcription by Hugo Noth (original for voice and piano)
- Zapateado (1957) for accordion and for 2 accordions, transcription by Hugo Noth (original for piano)
- Zapateado (1957) for 2 marimbas, transcription by Philippe Ohl (original for piano)
- 6 Variationen (1960) for accordion, transcription by Hugo Noth (original for piano)
- Gebündelte Klänge (1960-2004) for accordion and accordion duo, transcription by Hugo Noth (original for piano)
References
Deblon, C., Kabisch, T. (1995). Conversation with Jaume Padrós. Hohner Verlag