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Joaquín
Valverde Durán
(1846 - 1910)
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 Born in the
Estremaduran capital of Badajoz, near the Portuguese border, on 27
February 1846, Valverde studied at the Madrid Conservatory under
José Aranguren (harmony), Pedro Sarmiento (flute) and -
most importantly - composition under Emilio Arrieta. A precociously
brilliant flautist, he played in military bands and at the Teatro del
Príncipe as early as 1859, and won first prize at the Conservatory in
1867. In 1870 he added the prize for composition, but he never achieved a
permanent teaching post there, despite writing two standard flautists' manuals
(1874 and 1886). Instead he earned his living between 1871 and 1889 conducting
theatre orchestras in the capital. His forgotten orchestral works include two
Symphonies, but the majority of his works were theatrical, and largely
collaborative. The long list of his theatrical partners includes Caballero, Julián Romea, Chapí, Arturo Saco del Valle,
José Rogel, Bretón and
Torregrosa.
His friendship with Federico Chueca dates from 1872, but their first
mutual work appears to be Un maestro de obra prima from five
years later. The epoch-making La canción de la Lola (1880) was
followed by a long stream of works together, of which Luces y sombras
and Fiesta Nacional (both 1882), Cádiz (1886) and El año pasado por agua (1889) are amongst
the most important. Indeed, for the March from Cádiz both
collaborators were awarded the Military Grand Cross.
After breaking
with Chueca he enjoyed several solo successes, notably La baraja
francesa (1890) to a libretto by Sinesio Delgado, but these soon
faded from view. In any case, he continued to write sainetes with other
composers, notably his son "Quinito", of
which La noche de San Juan (1894) was perhaps the most successful. He
even collaborated with the young Serrano on
La suerte loca (1907), before his death in Madrid on 17 March 1910.
Valverde was the
collaborative musician par excellence, and though it is impossible to
speak categorically about the extent of his work with Chueca, it is
generally accepted that his main contribution was some orchestral and harmonic
polish. The paradoxical fact of his being one of the very few zarzuela
composers to acquire a reputation outside Spain is down to one work alone -
La Gran Vía (1886), the great
revista (revue) which he wrote with his friend Federico Chueca, and
which brought their names to popular notice in Paris, Vienna, New York and
London.
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