The Pere Rigau fonds was ceded by Rogeli Lloveras i Rigau to the Historical Archive of Torroella in 2002, housed at that time in the Museum of Montgrí and the Baix Ter. Of the 475 works comprising the fonds, more than 400 are sardanas by Pere Rigau (1868-1909) himself. The majority of these sardanas have been conserved under the joga format. The fonds also contains the popular repertoire meant for dance festivals – including chotis, mazurkas and americanas – written for the popular orchestras of the day (1 flute, 2 clarinets, 1 flugelhorn, 2 trombones, 2 cornets, 2 violins and 1 double bass).

The fonds also contains music for concert in Pere Rigau’s own arrangements, including a march inspired by Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète and six fantasias, the majority for violin and orchestra, inspired by operas like La Juiv by J. F. Lévy Halévy or the motifs from the works of G. Verdi, including Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and Nabucco, and Donizetti’s La Favoritta, which reveals the integration of the Italian opera genre into the popular 19th-century repertoires. Here we should also highlight the influence of the zarzuela, as shown by sardanas like El Chaleco Blanco, De Madrid a Paris and La Caza del Oso, whose titles are identical to those of the three zarzuelas by Federico Chueca which premiered in Barcelona in 1890. Likewise, the sardana Los Trasnochadores has the same title as the zarzuela by the composer from Reus, Manuel Nieto, which was also written in the late 19th century.

Another element worth highlighting from the TdmPR Fonds is the Sardana de la Opera Garin instrumentada per Pere Rigau. Tomás Bretón decided to include a sardana in his opera Garin to show Barcelona audiences his appreciation for their warm welcome of Los Amantes de Teruel in 1889. Breton sought the advice of the most renowned sardana composers of the era; some say that he approached Pere Rigau, while others cite Antoni Agramont from Castelló d’Empúries. However, the presence of this work in the fonds seems to indicate that it might be the one that Rigau wrote at Breton’s request. The fonds also contains 10 sardanas by Joaquim Vallespí, 9 by Josep Serra and, to a lesser degree, others by Vicenç Bou (4), Enric Sans (2) and Ferran Says (1), as well as 5 works for voice and piano by Rogeli Rigau, Pere Rigau’s brother. The printed edition of the TdmPR catalogue was issued in March 2009¹

¹GRASSOT I RADRESA, Marta. Inventaris dels fons musicals de Catalunya. Volum 3: Fons del Museu de la Mediterrània de Torroella de Montgrí. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació, 2009.- Arxius i documents. Eines de recerca, núm. 6.

Fonds Factsheet

Acronym: TdmPR

IFMuC Link: https://ifmuc.uab.cat/collection/TdmPR?ln=en

Title: Pere Rigau Fonds

Archive and location:
Museu de la Mediterrània
The fonds is preserved at the museum's Centre de Documentació

Carrer d’Ullà, 27-31
17257 Torroella de Montgrí

Contact:
Tel: 972 755 180
Email: cdd.canquintana@torroella-estartit.cat

Date(s): 19th to 20th centuries

Extent and medium: 13 box files

Creators:
Pere Rigau

Download the complete fonds factsheet HERE

Pere Rigau's Ms TdmPR: Au-439 cover