Joan Baptista

Pianist, composer, pedagogue and editor 

Pupil of Pere Tintorer, at the age of sixteen he enrolled at the Conservatory of Paris where he studied with Émile Racine Gauthier Prudent and Jacob Rosenhain. He began his career with concerts in France, Germany and Spain, and was praised by the energy and expressiveness of his performances of Beethoven and Chopin. Established in Barcelona as of 1881, he was professor figures such as Mario Calado, Isaac Albéniz, Carles Vidiella, Joaquim Malats and Ricard Viñes, with whom he created an important piano tradition. He also organized concert seasons at the Teatre Líric and the Sala Beethoven, conducted by Frigola and with figures such as Massenet and Saint-Saëns. In 1888 he founded a music publishing house where Hispaniae Schola Musica Sacra was published and from where he promoted the music of composers such as Albéniz, Pedrell and Granados. Some of his output were lost during the Franco-Prussian War.