Papers by Amadeu Corbera-Jaume
L'Avenç, 2026
Baltasar Samper (1888–1966), músic mallorquí clau del Noucentisme, destacà com a pianista, compos... more Baltasar Samper (1888–1966), músic mallorquí clau del Noucentisme, destacà com a pianista, compositor, crític i etnomusicòleg. Autor de la Suite Mallorca, fou pont entre modernitat europea i cultura catalana. L’exili del 1939 truncà la seva projecció; a Mèxic impulsà la recerca musical però restà oblidat. L’article reivindica la seva figura i el seu llegat.
The Chopin Review, 2025
The musician and priest Joan M. Thomàs i Sabater (1896–1966) was the promoter of the Chopin Music... more The musician and priest Joan M. Thomàs i Sabater (1896–1966) was the promoter of the Chopin Music Festival launched in Majorca in 1931, coinciding with the establishment of the Spanish Republic, to commemorate the Polish musician’s stay on the island during the winter of 1838/39. The event was part of the modernist and Catalanist regeneration programme that, in line with the changing tides in Spain, propelled the intellectualism of Majorca at the time, with the aim of projecting their idea of a modern and European Majorca capable of attracting new visitors. However, the initiative sparked some opposition from conservative Catholics, who did not view favourably Chopin’s rather non-religious figure and his companion on that trip, the writer Aurore Dupin, known as George Sand, questioning why it should be a priest who wished to remember them. Despite the musical success of the Festival during the years of the Republic, controversy resurfaced at the beginning of the Civil War, when Thomàs, then a professor at the Conservatori de Música de Majorca, underwent Francoist purging. Among other accusations, he was charged with wanting to commemorate the journey of Chopin and Dupin and their extramarital relationship. The figures of the pianist and – especially – the writer were seen by the most reactionary elements of the new regime as contrary to the moral values and misogyny of Spanish fascism, and therefore Chopin, in this context, did not deserve to be celebrated.
Singing had a crucial role in workers daily life until recent times. Most people who worked in fa... more Singing had a crucial role in workers daily life until recent times. Most people who worked in factories, textile mills, etc., were used to sing. It was a general form to communicate news, tell stories or expressing identity or feelings over a circumstance or event: in short, it was a way to create spaces of sociability and to draw the limits of the community's reality; and all of that has to be seen as a remain of the rural society, and which clashed against the new ruling capitalism and working time and socialization that factories did represent. Despite of this fact, however, there was an intense singing activity into the factories and workshops, activity that was even increased with the popularization of recorded music systems like radio or discs, which provided new musical matter through which new songs could be created. In this paper, we explore the conflict between worker's necessity to sing within the industrial environment despite the prohibitions, and the diverse w...
Enderrock, 2024
Article divulgatiu a la revista "Enderrock" sobre l'aparició a les Balears d'una escena pop local... more Article divulgatiu a la revista "Enderrock" sobre l'aparició a les Balears d'una escena pop local viculada al malestar social derivat de la massificació turística.
Popular science article in the magazine "Enderrock" about the emergence of a local pop scene in the Balearic Islands linked to social unrest caused by tourist overcrowding.
Popular science article in the magazine "Enderrock" about the emergence of a local pop scene in the Balearic Islands linked to social unrest caused by tourist overcrowding.
Anava acompanyat d'un famós dibuix d'André Favory del músic francès. La importància de Samper com... more Anava acompanyat d'un famós dibuix d'André Favory del músic francès. La importància de Samper com a principal narrador musical en el període llarg del Noucentisme segueix encara ara en un incomprensible segon pla; ens atrevim a pensar que això és així per la manca d'atenció tant dels estudis literaris com de la musicologia catalana moderna a la crítica musical del primer terç del segle XX, que sens dubte ens revelaria un dels més importants assagistes, d'una profunditat sorprenent i un estil literari admirable, sobre la música del seu temps. És una de les tantes assignatures pendents del nostre passat cultural. L'admiració que sentia Baltasar Samper per Ravel és incomparable a la que pogués tenir per altres compositors, com ara Robert Schumann, Ígor Stravinsky o Béla Bartók. Pel músic mallorquí, el francès fou un «exquisit arquitecte dels sons» , el model i la referència de la música contemporània; 1 no en va, havia estat ell mateix qui, com a pianista, havia fet la primera audició pública a Barcelona de Le tombeau de Couperin, l'any 1920 , una de les obres que inaugura el modern neoclassicisme 2 francès i europeu en general. El 18 de maig de 1924, l'Associació de Música «da Camera» va 3 organitzar un Festival monogràfic de Ravel, amb la presència en persona del compositor; una vegada més, Samper, convertit ja en el crític ravelià de referència, va rebre l'encàrrec d'escriure la notes al programa. Aquest text va ser la base de l'article a la portada de La Publicitat del 2 de 4 gener de 1938. Encara durant la guerra, el mallorquí va impartir una altra conferència sobre Ravel, al Casal de la Cultura, institució popular i antifeixista de la que era Vicesecretari General, l'11 de març de 1938. Com a compositor, la influència del compositor francès en l'obra de Samper es 5 deixa sentir clarament en l'orquestració brillantíssima de la Suite Mallorca (1929). L'article que transcrivim de Baltasar Samper és, com és habitual en ell, ben escrit i ric en referències, noms i exemples. Samper era un bon lector de la crítica musical francesa, especialment
The Galpin Society Journal, 2022
In 1896, Mallorcan folklorist Antoni Noguera i Balaguer sent a collection of specially made instr... more In 1896, Mallorcan folklorist Antoni Noguera i Balaguer sent a collection of specially made instruments from the Balearic Islands to Victor-Charles Mahillon, curator of the Museum of Musical Instruments in Brussels, perhaps the most significant collection of sound objects at that time. The shipment included three glass trumpets, which are still part of the Collection. In this paper we review the history of these trumpets in Mallorca, as one of the last examples of Mallorcan bousillage, a popular form of resistance to capitalism, and the role these instruments had in the popular celebrations on the Eve of the Festival of the Magi (5 January).
Main points:
- Glass trumpets were often made by glass workers in places with a prevalent glass industry as a type of diversionary practice using factory materials and machinery. This allowed workers a degree of autonomy and served as a form of resistance against the rigidity of industrial labor.
- Glass trumpets and conch shells were commonly used by children in Mallorca and elsewhere in the Mediterranean during Epiphany/Three Kings celebrations in the late 19th century. They were used to make noise and contribute to a chaotic, festive atmosphere that symbolically challenged social hierarchies and order.
- There is evidence that glass trumpets were also used as anti-Semitic weapons against Xueta (Jewish descendant) children during these celebrations in Mallorca, both symbolically and physically. The noise marked them as excluded while the instruments themselves were used to assault Xueta children.
- Antoni Noguera collected three glass trumpets from Mallorca and gifted them to the Musée des Instruments de Musique in Brussels in 1896 as part of a larger collection of traditional Balearic instruments. However, these trumpets were not well documented in Mallorca and their violent uses may have made Noguera hesitant to emphasize them.
- The later establishment of more orderly Three Kings parades and cavalcades sponsored by the authorities led to the decline in the use of glass trumpets and the violent celebrations of the past. However, they seem to have persisted in attenuated form into the early 20th century.
Main points:
- Glass trumpets were often made by glass workers in places with a prevalent glass industry as a type of diversionary practice using factory materials and machinery. This allowed workers a degree of autonomy and served as a form of resistance against the rigidity of industrial labor.
- Glass trumpets and conch shells were commonly used by children in Mallorca and elsewhere in the Mediterranean during Epiphany/Three Kings celebrations in the late 19th century. They were used to make noise and contribute to a chaotic, festive atmosphere that symbolically challenged social hierarchies and order.
- There is evidence that glass trumpets were also used as anti-Semitic weapons against Xueta (Jewish descendant) children during these celebrations in Mallorca, both symbolically and physically. The noise marked them as excluded while the instruments themselves were used to assault Xueta children.
- Antoni Noguera collected three glass trumpets from Mallorca and gifted them to the Musée des Instruments de Musique in Brussels in 1896 as part of a larger collection of traditional Balearic instruments. However, these trumpets were not well documented in Mallorca and their violent uses may have made Noguera hesitant to emphasize them.
- The later establishment of more orderly Three Kings parades and cavalcades sponsored by the authorities led to the decline in the use of glass trumpets and the violent celebrations of the past. However, they seem to have persisted in attenuated form into the early 20th century.
Revista Catalana de Musicologia, 2023
The tourism industry is one of the foremost world economic engines and one of immense importance ... more The tourism industry is one of the foremost world economic engines and one of immense importance in the Catalan Countries at large and above all in places like the Balearic Islands. Curiously enough, however, ethnomusicology has only turned its attention to this mass phenomenon in relatively recent times. This article, which stems from some reflections in the sphere of the author’s teaching activity, poses the need to develop ethnomusicology critical of tourism in the Balearic Islands which should adopt, from an emic
standpoint, the tools of the growing field of ecomusicology in order to complete a radical comprehensive proposal. All this should allow us to better exert an influence in the challenges which are posed to us as scholars, professional researchers and citizens by the socioecological crisis of the 21st century in the Balearic Islands.
standpoint, the tools of the growing field of ecomusicology in order to complete a radical comprehensive proposal. All this should allow us to better exert an influence in the challenges which are posed to us as scholars, professional researchers and citizens by the socioecological crisis of the 21st century in the Balearic Islands.
Cicely Foster (1903-2002) va ser una compositora anglesa, alumna entre d'altres d'Alfredo... more Cicely Foster (1903-2002) va ser una compositora anglesa, alumna entre d'altres d'Alfredo Casella, Alfred Cortot i Nadia Boulanger. El 1932 ella i el seu marit, el pintor nord-americà Archie Gittes, es varen instal·lar a Mallorca. L'illa era aleshores un refugi de bohemis i artites estrangers, entre els quals Robert Graves, Albert Vigoleis Thelen o Manuel de Falla, amb qui la compostora tenia amistat. En aquest article presentam per primera vegada l'arribada de Cicely Foster a Mallorca i la seva relació amb els cercles musicals i artístics de l'illa que la va inspirar. Cicely Foster (1903-2002) was an English composer, a student of Alfredo Casella, Alfred Cortot and Nadia Boulanger, among others. In 1932 she and her husband, the American painter Archie Gittes, moved to Mallorca. The island was then a refuge for bohemians and foreign artists, including Robert Graves, Albert Vigoleis Thelen and Manuel de Falla, with whom the composter was friend. In this article we...
In this article we present the close relationship between Baltasar Samper and Manuel Blancafort, ... more In this article we present the close relationship between Baltasar Samper and Manuel Blancafort, two of the most prominent Catalan composers of the first half of the 20th Century, and the rediscovery of the forgotten piano roll of one Samper's most succesful works, which now can be heard to hear for the first time in 90 years. Edit Sonograma Magazine, abril 2019, 42
One could call «industrial musicology» the study of the musical life in factories and workshops. ... more One could call «industrial musicology» the study of the musical life in factories and workshops. Unlike agrarian societies, there are very few works about industrial workers' musical activity, neither at the Catalan Countries nor Europe. Based on British and Catalan scholars' few theoretical works, our research Música popular i industrialització a Menorca, from which we present some conclusions in this paper, pretends to expand the working frames for future ethnomusicological research in this same field.
Jazz-hitz, Sep 27, 2023
The musician Baltasar Samper was a prestigious critic within the Catalan Noucentisme. But unlike ... more The musician Baltasar Samper was a prestigious critic within the Catalan Noucentisme. But unlike the majority of his Catalan modernist colleagues, he was a radical defender of a black and “authentic” jazz as a language of modernity. The basis of this defense was set in a series of articles back in 1930 and 1931, which we present for the first time.
Caramella: Revista de música i cultura popular,, 2022
Haidé. Estudis maragallians, 2022
El músic i poeta Joan Llongueras i Badia (1880-1953) és conegut per ser l'introductor als Països ... more El músic i poeta Joan Llongueras i Badia (1880-1953) és conegut per ser l'introductor als Països Catalans del mètode Dalcroze d'ensenyança de música, que va tenir un gran impacte en el desenvolupament de l'estètica noucentista. Llongueras, doncs, fou un personatge important del Noucentisme musical. Paral•lelament, i com a poeta, un seguidor de la lírica de Joan Maragall, i amic seu i de la família. Entre alguns documents de Joan Llongueras que es conserven a l'Arxiu Joan Maragall, hi trobam una petita obra per a veu i piano, datada el març de 1939, titulada «Franco. Himne de les joventuts catalanes»; malgrat la seva trajectòria catalanista, Llongueras s'adscrivia al sector més conservador del Noucentisme. A partir d'aquest himne, doncs, aprofundim en les simpaties franquistes de Joan Llongueras, compartides també per la família Maragall, a través de la seva activitat musical i poètica durant les primeres dècades del nou règim.
The musician and poet Joan Llongueras i Badia (1880-1953) is known for being the introducer to the Catalan Countries of the Dalcroze method of teaching music, which had a great impact on the development of Noucentist aesthetics. Llongueras, then,
was an important figure in musical Noucentisme, but at the same time, and as a poet, a follower of Joan Maragall's lyrics, and a friend of him and his family. Among some documents by Joan Llongueras that have been preserved in the Joan Maragall Archive we find a small work for voice and piano, dated on March 1939, entitled «Franco. Hymn of the Catalan Youth»; despite his Catalanist career, Llongueras belonged to the most conservative sector of Noucentisme. From this hymn, then, we delve into the Francoist sympathies of Joan Llongueras, also shared by the Maragall family, through their musical and poetic activity during the first decades of the new regime
The musician and poet Joan Llongueras i Badia (1880-1953) is known for being the introducer to the Catalan Countries of the Dalcroze method of teaching music, which had a great impact on the development of Noucentist aesthetics. Llongueras, then,
was an important figure in musical Noucentisme, but at the same time, and as a poet, a follower of Joan Maragall's lyrics, and a friend of him and his family. Among some documents by Joan Llongueras that have been preserved in the Joan Maragall Archive we find a small work for voice and piano, dated on March 1939, entitled «Franco. Hymn of the Catalan Youth»; despite his Catalanist career, Llongueras belonged to the most conservative sector of Noucentisme. From this hymn, then, we delve into the Francoist sympathies of Joan Llongueras, also shared by the Maragall family, through their musical and poetic activity during the first decades of the new regime
Cuadernos de Música Iberoamericana, 2021
En este artículo presentamos una primera aproximación a un conjunto de textos hasta ahora descono... more En este artículo presentamos una primera aproximación a un conjunto de textos hasta ahora desconocidos del músico y musicólogo catalán exiliado Baltasar Samper, responsable, desde 1947 y hasta su muerte, de dirigir los trabajos etnomusicológicos de la Sección de Investigaciones Musicales del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes mexicano. Con esto queremos mostrar la influencia de Samper en la dirección y desarrollo de una primera etnomusicología positivista en el contexto posrevolucionario mexicano, y cómo lo hizo a partir de la relectura y traslación en México de su propia experiencia etnomusicológica en Cataluña y Baleares con la Obra del Cançoner Popular de Catalunya en las décadas de 1920 y 1930.
In preindustrial societies, singing and working was and still is conceived as part of the same ac... more In preindustrial societies, singing and working was and still is conceived as part of the same activity, of the same life experience. However, the great social transformation that will imply the industrialization of much of the Catalan Countries at the end of the 19th century, and the progressive impetus of the capitalist production system, will often conflict with the cultural practices of workers incorporated directly from an agrarian society to an industrial one. Thus, focusing on the configuration of the Minorcan factories sound space, we want to show the processes of resistance and resilience in the transition from a pre-industrial culture to different one modeled by Fordist capitalism. Through the musical and sound fact in the factory, we review the workers' experience of industrialization in Menorca, the community organization of the sound space to the hierarchy and control of this space: the workplace as a framework where the limits of what is socially possible is modula...
Samper és probablement l’etnomusicòleg català més important de la primera meitat del segle XX i, ... more Samper és probablement l’etnomusicòleg català més important de la primera meitat del segle XX i, potser, el millor de la seva generació. Fou de fet aquesta bona tasca com a investigador per l’Obra del Cançoner Popular de Catalunya la que li donà el prestigi suficient com per ser acollit amb admiració pels folkloristes mexicans poc després de la seva arribada a l’exili a Amèrica, i ser cridat per Carlos Chávez -el gran compositor i primer director de l’Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artesa dirigir, a partir de 1947, l’àrea de Folklore de la Sección de Investigaciones Musicales (SIM) del just recent creat INBA. Samper treballà a la SIM durant 24 anys, fins només pocs dies abans de la seva mort, primer colze a colze amb el musicòleg gallec Jesús Bal y Gay, i quan aquest tornà a Espanya el 1963, fent-se càrrec de tota la secció.
Revista Caramella., 2020
El 1938, en plena guerra civil, la musicòloga, compositora i traductora Palmira Jaquetti Isant va... more El 1938, en plena guerra civil, la musicòloga, compositora i traductora Palmira Jaquetti Isant va publicar el que seria el seu únic llibre de poemes, "L'estel dins la llar";. Pau Casals i Baltasar Samper varen posar música a quatre d'aquests poemes; en el cas de Samper, ho va fer en un cicle inacabat de cançons per a veu i conjunt instrumental titulat com el llibre de Jaquetti, "L'estel dins la llar". Aquesta obra, desconeguda fins avui, i escrita aquell mateix 1938, és el darrer exemple del lied o cançó d'autor noucentista.