The Story Behind The Reputable Spanish Opera Composer Federico Moreno Torroba

Born on March 3, 1891, Federico Moreno Torroba was destined to be a musician from an early age.  His father, Jose Moreno Ballesteros was the one who introduced him to the fine art of music and everything it has to offer.  His father was a well known organist who knew a great deal about music himself.

While it was his father who introduced him to music, Moreno moved on to study composition with Felipe Pedrell, who was a great Catalan musicologist.  In addition, he also studied with the composer Conrado del Campo for some time.   A big breakthrough came in 1918 when his tone poem, La ajorca de oro made a premiere at the conservatoire.  This is also where he met a great guitarist by the name of Andres Segovia.

Following this premiere, Moreno included writing guitar into his repertoire for the rest of his life.  Over time, he would go on to produce 80 different pieces including dances, impressionistic pieces, sonatas, suites and concertos and compositions.  Thanks to his affiliation with Segovia, Moreno quickly became a reputable image internationally as one of the foremost composers of the 20th century renaissance of the classical guitar. 

While Moreno was a terrific guitar composer, this was just one of the elements that made him shine.  In addition, he was a supporter of a light Spanish opera form known as zarzuela that was characterized by a varying blend of sung and spoken dialect.  The 1930s and 1940s proved to be a hectic time in his life as he travelled throughout the United States and Latin America performing.  He often travelled with several different stage companies. 

Although his first zarzuela was written in 1912, it was not until 1925 that he gained a great deal of respect and enthusiasm for this style of music thanks to the success of La mesonera de Tordesillas.  From that point on, he produced a great deal of brilliant pieces including La marchenera in 1928 and Luisa Fernanda in 1932.  In all, he would end up producing nearly 80 operas before it was all said and done.

There is no question that Moreno Torroba had a huge impact on the Spanish musical culture.  He continues to be one of the dominant figures for that time and it carried on well past the Spanish Civil War in 1939.  Following the war, he founded a new zarzuela company in 1946 and began touring again.

Although he had great fame and had built up a reputable image, it was not until 1957 that he finally became the most popular Spanish opera of the decade.  Following the war, he would write a total of nine ballets, numerous choral and orchestral music, a piano concerto and many different piano solos. 

If that were not enough, he also wrote a variety of songs and miscellaneous works while continuing his interests in the guitar.  There are numerous Classical guitar pieces that allowed him to remain in the public eye as a true guitarist as well.  This hectic lifestyle continued with Moreno all the way up to his death at the age of 91.

What made Moreno Torroba stand out so much from other composers was his willingness to experiment.  He ultimately would find that he preferred lyrically melodic music with tonal harmony. 

Many consider his philosophy composition to be ‘castizo,’ meaning a blend of folk elements that related to the traditions of Iberian culture.  In addition, this combined with basic forms and impressionistic works that celebrated dance genres.  His guitar stands out because of the rich use of color, melody, and lively rhythms that would truly reel in listeners.  It was an expression of poetic and romantic sensibility that many other composers could never achieve.