José Brocá

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Brocá and the second or maternal family name is Codina.

José Brocá y Codina (in Catalan: Antoni Josep Mateu Brocà i Codina) (21 September 1805 – 3 February 1882) was a Spanish guitarist and composer of the Romantic period.

Life and music

Brocá was born in Reus, province of Tarragona. Mainly self-taught on the guitar, he also studied briefly with Dionisio Aguado. He was reputed to have been an excellent performer on his instrument.^[1] As a teacher based in Barcelona, his best-known pupils included Felipe Pedrell and José Ferrer who both dedicated compositions to him (and vice versa). He was a friend to Julián Arcas.

In his teaching, Brocá used Aguado's method.^[2] Brocá died in Barcelona.

Brocá composed around twenty works for the guitar; Bone (1914/54) singles out his opus 19 (Fantasia and Tone Poem) as his "principal guitar composition".^[3] Brocá's music was praised for its elegance and its stylistic proximity to Tárrega's, despite being several decades older.

Compositions for guitar

Dates after online catalogue of Biblioteca Nacional de España.

• El destino. Fantasía para guitarra (1864)
• El cortesano. Schotisch (1864)
• Andante sentimental (1870)
• Andante (1885)
• El catalán. Vals (1885)
• Fantasía (1886)
• Recuerdo triste. Melodía (1886)
• Crepúsculos. Tres valses (1886)
• El último canto. Fantasía con variaciones (1886)
• Recuerdos juveniles. Tres valses (1886)
• Tres piezas fáciles (1886)
• Albores. Tres valses (1886)
• El veloz. Vals (1886)
• El elegante. Vals (1886)
• El patinador. Schotisch (1886)
• La amistad. Fantasía con variaciones (1886)
• Fantasía (1886)
• Una flor. Mazurka (1886)
• Pensamiento español (1886)
• El ay. Vals (1886)
• Un adiós (1886)
• Alegreto (1886)