Federico Moreno Torroba stood out in multiple facets of Spanish musical life. He was a prolific composer, an efficient orchestra conductor, an excellent business man, and a cultured man – member of the Royal Academy of Arts of San Fernando – and a defender of musicians’ rights, for which in 1975 he was named President of the Spanish Authors Rights Society.

His compositions of dramatic music – opera and zarzuela – and for guitar stand out in a catalogue that covers all genres. The son of an organist and a pupil of Felipe Pedrell – the “father of the new Spanish music” – Torroba always knew how to connect with the public, which explains the great popularity of his works. His career was very much linked to the opera genre that he cultivated from “La Virgen de Mayo” (1924) up to “El Poeta” (1979), written for the tenor Placido Domingo. Between these dates developed a prolific career as composer with very successful works, such as “La Marchenera” (1928), “Luisa Fernanda” (1932), “La Chulapona” (1934), which made him one of the most popular composers in the history of Spanish music of the twentieth century. His friendship with Andrés Segovia, Regino Sainz de la Maza, Narciso Yepes and the Romero Guitar Quartet, gave him stimulation to write many splendid works for guitar such as “Madroños”, for solo guitar, and “Homenaje a la seguidilla”, for guitar and orchestra. He also wrote works for piano, piano and orchestra, and songs; developing one of the most extensive catalogues of Spanish music.

He continued composing actively right up until his death in Madrid on the 12^th September 1982 and had just finished his last work, a concerto for piano and orchestra entitled “Fantasia castellana”.