Photo: Josep Renalias · CC BY-SA 3.0 · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regionalfull biography
Amadeu Vives i Roig
Person · male · Spain · Collbató · born 1871 · died 1932 · recording since 1991
Spanish–Catalan composer, writer and impresario (1871-1932)
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Also known as Amadeo Vives · Amadeu Vives · Amadeu Vives i Roig · Амедеу Вивес-и-Ройг
Timeline
5 events▣ Album 2◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1870s
1930s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Doña Francisquita / Bohemios
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
Biography
English biography607 words · 4 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1348371548
Biography
Amadeu Vives i Roig (Catalan pronunciation: [əməˈðew ˈβiβəz i ˈrɔtʃ]; 18 November 1871 – 2 December 1932) was a Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for Doña Francisquita, which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyricism, fluent orchestration and colourful evocation of 19th Century Madrid—not to mention its memorable vocal and choral writing", and characterizes as "without doubt the best known and loved of all his works, one of the few zarzuelas which has 'travelled' abroad" .
The personal papers of Amadeu Vives are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya.
Biography
A Catalan, Vives was born in Collbató, near Montserrat. He studied in Barcelona under José Ribera, and in 1891 helped found the influential Orfeó Català choral society, a key element in the Catalan musical renaissance. He then became an early pupil of Felipe Pedrell, a fundamental figure of 20th century Spanish music. He soon moved to Madrid, where he lived the rest of his life, first publishing a series of concert works, solo and much-loved choral songs before turning to the zarzuelas on which his fame rests.
Before turning to zarzuela, Vives wrote a successful Catalan-language stage play, Jo no sabia que el món era així ("I didn't know the world was like this", 1929) and an ambitious four-act opera Artús (1897, Barcelona) based on Sir Walter Scott. A year later, his first zarzuela, the one-act (género chico) La primera del barrio, was produced at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. His next several zarzuelas met some critical acclaim—particularly for Don Lucas del Cigarral (1899) and La balada de la luz (1900)—but his real critical and popular breakthrough came with the one-act Bohemios (1904). Vives drew on the same literary source as Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece La bohème, but his score shows French rather than Italian influences, as well as his own growing individuality.
Soon after, he wrote two one-act zarzuelas in collaboration with Gerónimo Giménez: El húsar de la guardia (1904) and La gatita blanca (1905) both remain in the repertory of zarzuela a century later, though other once-popular works, such as Los viajes de Gulliver (1911), have faded. Many of his other works continue to be performed: the operetta La generala (1912; set in "Oxford and Cambridge"); the pastoral opera Maruxa (1914, without spoken parts); Doña Francisquita (1923), which Webber characterizes as perhaps the finest of all three-act género grande zarzuelas" and "without doubt the best-known and -loved of all Vives' works"; and La villana (1927). His last works, the two-act zarzuelas Los flamencos (1928) and Noche de verbena (1929) "have not proved so durable" (Webber); the comedia lírica Talismán (1932) was a critical success, but a commercial failure. Vives died in Madrid in 1932.
Reputation
Isaac Albéniz once said that if Vives had sought to compose with a universal accent, he could have undoubtedly have been a major international figure. He aspired to become a symphonic composer, but never pursued that ambition. Webber remarks that "Perhaps he simply lacked the confidence to try. His autobiographical book Sofía (1923) paints a revealing picture of a nervous figure," suffering from several physical disabilities, and "never entirely satisfied with being 'just' the leading zarzuelero of his day."
Operas
Artus (1895)
Don Lucas del Cigarral (1899)
La balada de la luz (1900)
Euda d'Uriach (1900)
Los amores de la Inés (1902, with Manuel de Falla)
Bohemios (1904)
El húsar de la guardia (1904)
El arte de ser bonita (1905)
La gatita blanca (1906)
Juegos malabares (1909)
Colomba (1910)
La generala (1912)
El carro del sol (1911)
Maruxa (1914)
La balada de Carnaval (1919)
Doña Francisquita (1923)
La villana (1927)
Talismán (1932)
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 15 | 72.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 5 | 78.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -59 | 6.1th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (5 release groups · 4 studio albums)
Albums · 4
1991 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 23 tracks · 2:14:57
Disc 11Doña Francisquita: Acto I: Introducción y escena10:582Doña Francisquita: Acto I: Siempre es el amor...3:403Doña Francisquita: Acto I: De qué te finges valiente5:414Doña Francisquita: Acto I: Cuando un hombre se quiere casar3:455Doña Francisquita: Acto I: Canción de la juventud3:366Doña Francisquita: Acto I: Canción del ruiseñor - Romanza de Francisquita5:137Doña Francisquita: Acto I: Final del acto I4:108Doña Francisquita: Acto II: Escena y cofradía de la bulla4:249Doña Francisquita: Acto II: Le van a oír - Dúo de Francisquita y Fernando6:3810Doña Francisquita: Acto II: Por el humo se sabe - Romanza de Fernando3:5611Doña Francisquita: Acto II: Escúchame - Dúo de Aurora y Fernando5:2412Doña Francisquita: Acto II: Concertante7:34Disc 21Doña Francisquita: Acto II: Final del acto II7:472Doña Francisquita: Acto III: Escena y coro románticos10:163Doña Francisquita: Acto III: Escena, canción del Marabú y fandango5:194Doña Francisquita: Acto III: Yo no fui sincera - Dúo de Francisquita y Fernando1:385Doña Francisquita: Acto III: Final del acto III1:146Bohemios: Preludio, escena y canción de Cossette8:197Bohemios: Raconto4:528Bohemios: Escena y coro de bohemios7:489Bohemios: Cuarteto y dúo8:4810Bohemios: Intermedio5:0711Bohemios: Concertante final8:501994 · studio album
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Tracklist · 20 tracks · 1:40:24
Disc 11Doña Francisquita, Act I: El Lañador (Lañador, Buhonera, Cardona, Fernando, Aurora, Irene, francisquita, Doña francisca, Doña Libe11:322Doña Francisquita, Act I: Siempre Es el Amor (Francisquita, Fernando, Cardona)3:443Doña Francisquita, Act I: Allí la Tienes (Cardona, Fernando, Aurora, Irene)5:544Doña Francisquita, Act I: Cuando un Hombre se Quiere Casar, Pt. 1 (Cardona, Fernando, Coro)3:545Doña Francisquita, Act I: Canción de la Juventud (Cardona, Fernando, Coro)3:346Doña Francisquita, Act I: Cuando un Hombre se Quiere Casar, Pt. 2 (Coro)0:467Doña Francisquita, Act I: Canción del Ruiseñor, Pt. 1 (Francisquita, Fernando, Cardona)5:598Doña Francisquita, Act I: Canción del Ruiseñor, Pt. 2 (Doña Francisca, francisquita, Fernando, Cardona, Aurora, Lorenzo, Coro)4:329Doña Francisquita, Act II: Scène y Cofradía de la Bulla (Aurora, Torero, Maja, Miliciano, Mamá, Niñas 1 y 2, Jornalero, su Mujer,7:1410Doña Francisquita, Act II: Le Van a Oír (Francisquita, Fernando)5:44Disc 21Doña Francisquita, Act II: Romance por el Humo se Sabe (Fernando)4:122Doña Francisquita, Act II: Escúchame (Aurora, Fernando)5:533Doña Francisquita, Act II: Bella Estrella (Francisquita, Doña Francisca, Fernando, Cardona, Don Matías)8:054Doña Francisquita, Act II: El Que Mis Bailes Quiera (Lorenzo, Aurora, Francisquita, Fernando, Cardona, Don Matías, Doña Francisca,8:085Doña Francisquita, Act III: Prélude y Coro de Románticos (Sereno, Coro)9:026Doña Francisquita, Act III: Aurorilla la Beltrana (Sereno, Coro, Aurora, Fernando, Cardona)3:047Doña Francisquita, Act III: Canción del Marabú (Aurora, Cardona)1:558Doña Francisquita, Act III: Fandango2:259Doña Francisquita, Act III: Yo No Fui Sincera (Francisquita, Fernando)3:3710Doña Francisquita, Act III: Canto Alegre de la Juventud (Coro)1:101994 · studio album
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Tracklist · 10 tracks · 58:17
1Act 2, Scene 1: "Cuando Te Digo Que Vengas"6:452Act 2, Scene 3: "¡Le van A Oír!"5:513Act 2, Scene 6: "Por El Humo Se Sabe Dónde Está El Fuego"4:094Act 2, Scene 9: "¡Escúchame!"5:525Act 2, Scene 12: "Fui Demasiado Vehemente"8:046Act 2, Scene 14: "¡Olé! ¡Viva! ¡Olé!"7:547Act 3, Scene 1: "¡Ah!" - "¡Ave María Purísima!"8:538Act 3, scene 1: "¡Ah!" - "¡Ave María Purísima!"7:379Act 3, Scene 7: "Yo No Fui Sincera"2:0110Act 3, Final: "Canto Alegre de la Juventud"1:11— · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 6 tracks · 38:45
1Preludio, escena y canción de Cossote7:162Racondo4:283Escena y coro de bohemios6:544Cuarteto y dúo de Cossette y Roberto7:295Intermedio5:116Dúo y concertante final7:27
Album · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | BohemiosSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 7 tracks · 43:071Bohemios: Prélude1:46 2Bohemios: Scéne et Chanson de Cossette6:29 3Bohemios: Récit5:03 4Bohemios: Scénes et Choeur de Bohémes7:24 5Bohemios: Quatuor et duo8:44 6Bohemios: Interméde5:27 7Bohemios: Final8:14 | Compilation | 1994 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Amadeu Vives i Roig head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 15 | 72.5th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 5 | 78.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -59 | 6.1th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amadeu_Vives.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4fdbb51c-2a4b-4700-b2bb-1f8c833489cfdiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4fdbb51c-2a4b-4700-b2bb-1f8c833489cfcore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2648593genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2648593seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadeu_Vives_i_Roigbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadeu_Vives_i_Roig
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Josep Renalias · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q2648593 · MusicBrainz: 4fdbb51c-2a4b-4700-b2bb-1f8c833489cf
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