1897–1945 · Spain · 20th century
Fernando Obradors was a Spanish composer from Barcelona who died in 1945. He played the piano, conducted orchestras and wrote for the theatre. He is best known for the cycle Canciones clásicas españolas, set to classic Spanish poems. The site has two of his pieces for voice and piano.
Fernando Obradors was born in Barcelona. The composer's full name was Fernando (Ferran) Jaumandreu Obradors. Some writers divide his first surname into a pair of Catalan names: Jaume and Andreu.
His mother taught him to play the piano. He learned composition, harmony and counterpoint on his own. Later he studied with Lamote de Grignon and Antonio Nicoláu.
For some time Obradors led the Liceu orchestra in Barcelona and the orchestral group of Radio Barcelona. Then he took charge of the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra.
Later he taught at the Las Palmas Conservatory.
Obradors wrote many works for the theatre, but none of them has kept a place in the repertoire. His zarzuelas, among them La campana rota and La maja de los lunares, had little success.
His symphonic works drew more attention, above all Réplica a la Farandola de Bizet. The orchestral piece El Poema de la Jungla was inspired by Kipling's Jungle Book stories. It was recently released on CD.
From 1921 to 1941 Obradors produced four volumes under the title Canciones clásicas españolas, arranging classic Spanish poetry. La casada infiel, one of the poems, came from his friend Federico García Lorca.
Obradors is best known for the first volume of this cycle.
Many of his contemporaries went to France in search of fame, but he remained loyal to his Catalan roots. The composer died in Barcelona in 1945.
Obradors wrote for the theatre, the orchestra and the voice. His songs are best known: the cycle Canciones clásicas españolas grew out of arrangements of classic Spanish poetry and filled four volumes. His stage works, by contrast, did not stay in the repertoire.
For orchestra he wrote Réplica a la Farandola de Bizet and El Poema de la Jungla.
The site has two of his pieces for voice and piano: Del cabello más sutil at the intermediate-plus level and La mi sola, Laureola at the advanced level. The first is the place to begin.