Ricard

Pianist and composer

He studied in Lleida with Joaquim Terraza and later in Barcelona with Joan Baptista Pujol. At twelve years of age, he was awarded the first piano prize of the Municipal School of Music of Barcelona, which allowed him to study in Paris with Ch. A. de Bériot. He obtained the First Prize at the Conservatory of Paris. In 1895, he debuted at Salle Pleyel and started touring Europe, America and Africa. During these years, he became friends with some the most important composers of the time, such as C. Debussy, M. Ravel, M. de Falla or Joaquim Malats. Thanks to these friendships, he regularly premiered new music by composers such as Frederic Mompou, Déodat de Séverac, O. Messiaen or D. Milhaud. In addition, he performed the canonical repertoire, including music by Bach, Beethoven and Chopin. He taught the Schola Cantorum in Paris and had F. Poulenc, J. Rodrigo, Joaquim Nin-Culmell and Maria Canals as his students. In 1940, he returned to Catalonia. He composed piano music including Thrénodie (1927) and Minuet spectral (1938).