Baltasar

Composer, musicologist and conductor. He grew up in a family of musicians. In 1907, he moved to Barcelona where he studied with Felip Pedrell (composition) and Enric Granados (piano). He taught at the Granados Academy, conducted orchestras -such as the Pau Casals Orchestra- and wrote music criticism for newspapers and radio. He was the main contributor to the research on the Balearic and Pityusic Islands of Obra del Cançoner Popular (1924-1932), and worked as secretary of the same institution. He became interested in jazz and composed his first soundtracks of documentaries and films in 1927. Exiled in Mexico, he served as director of musical research at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and composed piano and orchestral music, such as Cançons i danses de Mallorca. He was a member of the Compositors Independents de Catalunya. Together with Gerhard, Mompou and Toldrà, he is considered one of the main figures of the noucentista generation.