Pere

Pere Astort Ribas , Clifton Worsley

Barcelona , 24 de setembre de 1872
Barcelona , 13 de març de 1925

Compositor

He was admitted to the church of La Mercè in Barcelona as a choirboy and was taught by Josep Cortinas. In addition, he studied piano under Llorenç Bau, composition under Domènec Mas i Serracant and possibly under Felip Pedrell. He began composing while working as a salesperson for the music publisher Rafel Guàrdia. In 1901, he created his own publishing company and piano shop named El Arte Musical. He became particularly focused on the composition of dance pieces he labeled ‘waltz-boston’, which consisted in a fusion of waltzes, American ragtime, and other proto-jazz harmonies and rhythms. From 1899 onwards, he signed these compositions under the pseudonym Clifton Worsley. Thus, his music achieved a wide circulation across the most relevant national and international publishers of the time and through the sale of piano rolls and recordings. In addition to composing over 200 dances (including waltzes-boston, two-steps, cake-walks, shimmies and fox-trots) he composed songs and operettas such as El vals de los pájaros and Palabra de rey, both premiered in 1917 at Teatre Tívoli