MERCEDES GANCEDO Y RUBÉN FDEZ. AGUIRRE

Julián Aguirre was born in Buenos Aires on 28 January 1868. He was the son of Juan Aguirre y Sarasola, originally from Ibarra (Gipuzkoa), and María Díaz Elizalde, an Argentine of Basque origin. His father was a businessman who owned a piano business and decided to embark on the Argentine venture. Things did not go entirely well at first, and when little Julián was five years old, the family returned to Madrid. In Madrid’s cultural circles, he came into contact with Albéniz, Pérez Galdós, Barbieri… and studied under Emilio Arrieta and Carlos Beck at the Royal Conservatory.

In 1886, after a brief stay in Paris, the Aguirre family settled temporarily in Rosario before finally establishing themselves in the Argentine capital. Julián Aguirre was one of the first Argentine composers to seek inspiration in native music. His temperament and his inclination to explore intimacy led him almost imperceptibly towards chamber music; his main fields were the art song and piano repertoire.

A reference figure for his pedagogical ability, he taught at the Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires, directed by his great friend Alberto Williams. Later, from 1916 onwards, he founded his own institution: the Argentine School of Music. Manuel de Falla and the celebrated soprano María Barrientos were admirers of his work. Aguirre died in Buenos Aires in 1924, and this recital aims to honour his figure and his music.