Rodrígues de Ledesma, Mariano
Rodrígues de Ledesma, Mariano
Rodrígues de Ledesma, Mariano , Spanish composer; b. Saragossa, Dec. 14, 1779; d. Madrid, March 28, 1848. He was a choirboy at Saragossa Cathedral, being a pupil of F.J. García and José Gil Palomar. He conducted at the Seville Opera (1800–05), then at Madrid’s Los Caños del Peral theater; became a supernumerary tenor at the royal chapel (1807). In 1811 he emigrated to London for political reasons; there he gained distinction as a singing teacher. He returned to Spain in 1814 and became 1st tenor of the royal chapel and singing master to the Princess Luisa Cariota. In 1823 he again went to London for political reasons, and taught singing at the Royal Academy of Music. After returning to Spain in 1831, he once more served as 1st tenor (until 1836) and choirmaster (1836–47) of the royal chapel. He wrote both sacred and secular music, and is recognized as one of Spain’s earliest Romanticists.
Bibliography
R. Mitjana, El maestro R.d.L. y sus Lamentaciones de Semana Santa: Estudio critico-biogràfico (Malaga, 1909).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire