Arbós, Enrique Fernández

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Arbós, Enrique Fernández

Arbós, Enrique Fernández, notable Spanish violinist, conductor, pedagogue, and composer; b. Madrid, Dec. 24, 1863; d. San Sebastián, June 2, 1939. He received training in violin from Monasterio in Madrid, Vieuxtemps in Brussels, and Joachim in Berlin. In 1886–87 he was concertmaster of the Berlin Phil. He also made successful concert tours of Europe. Returning to Madrid in 1888, he taught at the Cons. In 1889 he was concertmaster of the Glasgow Sym. Orch. From 1894 to 1916 he was a prof. at the Royal Coll. of Music in London. In 1903–04 he was concertmaster of the Boston Sym. Orch. From 1904 to 1936 he was conductor of the Madrid Sym. Orch. He also appeared as a guest conductor in the U.S. (1928–31), and then in Europe. He composed the comic opera El centro de la tierra (Madrid, Dec. 22, 1895) and several chamber music pieces. Arbós was a brilliant orchestrator. His arrangement of music from Albéniz’s Iberia (1927) became very popular.

Bibliography

V. Espinos Molto, El Maestro A. (Madrid, 1942).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire