El pare Robert de la Riba, figura cabdal de la música per a orgue en la Catalunya del segle XX

Abstract

Rev. Robert de la Riba (1912-1999), of the Capuchin Order, trained under C. Pe- llicer, J. Pahissa, A. Galliera, J. Lamote de Grignon and J. Zamacois. His musical influence made itself widely felt in Barcelonas artistic life in the last half of the 20th century, on the one hand through his position as the music teacher of the Boys Choir of Nostra Senyora de Pompeia between 1946 and 1969, and on the other through his performances on the organs of the Palau de la Música Catalana and of Nostra Senyora de Pompeia church in Barcelona. His wish to foster and spread interest in the organ, a little-known and, in some circles, even disparaged instrument in his times, prompted him to present transcriptions of celebrated works of W. A. Mozart, L. v. Beethoven, F. Mendelsshon, J. Strauss, F. Chopin, F. Grofe, J. Turina and J. Guridi which, together with the Bachian organ repertory and that of the French Romantic school, delighted the public who attended his Sunday morning organ concerts at the Palau de la Música between 1952 and 1956. Likewise, from 1970 to the late 1990s, he programmed yearly organ concert series on the organ of Nostra Senyora de Pompeia, which he presented in the form of courses between the months of October and April. There, week after week, he spread the knowledge of composers, musical forms, styles and periods. He performed for the first time on the tribune of Nostra Senyora de Pompeia in Barcelona the organ Opera omnia of J. S. Bach, together with the organ repertory of F. Mendelssohn, R. Schumann, F. Liszt, J. Brahms, and the French school (C. Franck, E. Gigout, F. A. Guilmant, C. M. Widor, L. Boëllmann, C. Tournemire, M. Dupré and L. Vierne). Indeed, Rev. Robert de la Ribas organ music model was somewhat similar to those of the French school and of the Italian school of M. E. Bossi, formed by great organists, improvisers and composers. The publication of his Música per a orgue (Music for organ) (pub. Tritó, 2001 and 2008) has made his compositional repertory available to organists, and the release of Heinrich Walthers CD (SEdeM, 2006) doubtless played a role in bringing this about. Nevertheless, it would be of great interest for the knowledge of the richness of the 20th-century Catalan music for there to be a printed edition of a large part of Rev. Robert de la Ribas work which still remains unpublished, especially including his Rapsòdia nadalenca (Christmas rhapsody, 1947) for soloists, choir and orchestra; El pessebre (The crib) for 4 voices and orchestra; and the collection of 24 cançons catalanes per a soprano i piano (24 Catalan songs for soprano and piano). Catalonia, a country that all too often shows itself ungrateful to its musicians, let the centenary of his birth go unnoticed in 2012, missing in this way a magnificent opportunity to recall the work and figure of one of its great organists and composers of the 20th century. Without the figure of Rev. Robert de la Riba, one cannot comprehend either the recovery of the organ as a concert instrument in the framework of the post-war Barcelona, or the panorama of Catalan musical creation in the course of the last half of the 20th century.